Reality Chronicles Book 3
by Intrestsofthemind
Summary: Soren is once again thrown into a world alongside Alice and Gareth to defeat the evil plaguing the world. The only difference being what they encounter and the world they land in. Along the way they will encounter new enemies, familiar faces, and old dangers in their attempt to survive. Another fight is always around the corner...but they won't die here.
1. Chapter 1

**Third book in There's No Difference Between That World and This World book series. I recommend reading books 1 and 2 before reading this one.**

My name is Soren Thain, just an average boy with a...less than average circumstance. It all started when I was transported to the world of Hyrule against my will; it was my job to save it from its fate of being taken over by Ganondorf, with the help of a girl named Alice I was able to convince Link to take up the mantle and save the world. With it saved me and Alice were able to go home and I thought that was it...but then two weeks later we were transported to the world of the Mushroom Kingdom where we met up with another person like us Gareth and with his help and Mario and Luigi's we were able to stop a war from breaking out and we were back home again...but I couldn't shake the feeling that it wasn't over and there was more than meets the eye. It's been a month since then and I decided to check the library for any information I could find.

I gave a loud yawn as I flipped through page after page of old mythology books looking for some reference to travelers, the only things that came up were nomads or gypsies or pilgrimages that were liable in this world but didn't have anything to do with the current traveler reference I was looking for. Deciding books were useless in this matter I headed to the computer area to do some online research hoping that someone somewhere in the world would know of this term, after some 'interesting' websites coming up and weird fanfiction pouring out of every hole of this search engine I found a forum that seemed to discuss this; this was a few years old and had been closed but the thread had been left open for people to read and for me that was very good.

LordScrub58: Has anyone ever been taken to another world by their game system?

FragBlower: Yeah, and I saved a princess from a giant dragon by singing him a lullaby LOL JK!

LordScrub58: No I'm serious, one day I was playing my game and the next I was in Castlevania!

Gurlmast3r: Yeah right! Stop lying, that couldn't happen!

FragBlower: Stop trying to get attention! u r so pathetic!

LordScrub58: I'm telling the truth! I almost died and making it back here is a miracle!

Gurlmast3r: Whatever, we all know you're lying, so stop! No one cares!

FragBlower: Yeah, why don't you go back to that world and stay there forever! No one cares about you anyway!

CashMaster: WOULD YOU LIKE A FREE CAR? JUST FINISH THIS RESUME AND START DRIVING YOUR OWN FARARI NOW! CLICK THE FOLLOWING LINK: START DRIVING YOUR FARARI NOW!

Damn adds; at least with this thread I know had someone to contact about this matter, I was able to grab their email address off their account and sent them an email about this.

Dear LordScrub58,

I would like to contact you about the thread you posted back in 2010 about you traveling to the world of Castlevania, I've also been in the same situation you were in and I would like to talk to you more about what happened. If you would like to talk please email me back about this matter. Thank You.

Sending the email with a satisfied enter key slap I looked at the clock to see it was almost four; I still had a few hours to spend with Alice and Gareth before I had to turn in for the night.

It had been a month since our last adventure in the Mushroom Kingdom and since then I had spent every day with Gareth and Alice at the hospital; like last time our strength had increased for both me and Alice and I'm guessing Gareth but I was unsure as that was his first adventure with us. But now we gamed together as a group and I was glad about that, I had two true friends and that made me…happy? Why was I still debating this after everything that's happened!? What's left to give me any doubt? As I debated I felt someone walk into me and we both crashed to the ground with me on top of them.

"Owww. What the…Gareth's right I really should learn to not think so intensely when walking." Getting back up I helped the person I knocked over, it was a girl who looked around my age with red medium cut hair and deep brown eyes behind her bottom half rim glasses that she wore very well, "Sorry about that, are you okay?" As she looked at me she just stared for a minute as her cheeks turned slightly pink, "Um…hello?" I waved my hand in front of her face trying to snap her out of her trance.

"Oh…sorry for bumping into you, I-I didn't mean to, I'm just trying to get home and avoiding eye contact with strangers." Okay…that's weird but I'll let it slide; she seems skittish and easily frightened based on her posture and her eyes glued to the pavement.

"If you want I could walk you home, I know I'm a stranger but maybe the company would help you get home safely." I offered and she seemed to shy away.

"That's okay, I'll be fine on my own, I just have to be more careful." She gave me a smile but it didn't seem genuine, she was still scared.

"I insist, I bumped into you so let me help you home." I said giving her a soft smile to put her at ease. She gave me a nervous smile back and chuckled a little.

"Okay…sure! If it will make you feel better you can walk me home." She started walking and I joined beside her as we walked to her house; we walked in silence but she would occasionally look at me and back to the street in rapid motions. It was awkward but I was happy that she seemed to be at ease, her slouched over posture was a little straighter as we kept walking until eventually we came to her house. The only reason I knew it was her house was that she abruptly stopped in front of it; otherwise I would have looked at it and thought it was an abandoned old home. The windows were cracked or in some cases had a hole in them while the door was splintered and awkwardly tilting out of the frame off one of the hinges, the grass was dried and cracked as one step made it crunch under my foot. An old car was parked in the parking lot but the tires were gone and the hood was missing as was most of the interior parts including the engine; the paint of the house was chipped and some smaller holes were in the building almost making me wonder why this wasn't a hazardous building. Suddenly there was a crash coming from inside the house and some loud curse words spewed by what sounded like a middle aged man, "Thanks for walking me home, I think that's my cue to head inside." She said that with a smile that felt familiar for some reason…like something that's happened to me…I can't put my finger on it though; she walked away with a small wave as I did the same leaving me to head to the hospital and her to whatever was waiting for her inside.

I ran to the hospital to make up for the lost time and made it to Alice's room to see Alice and Gareth browsing through old games; Gareth seemed to be suggesting games while Alice replied with a short response.

"Tetris?"

"No."

"Punch-out?"

"No."

"Zelda II?"

"No.

"Super Mario Bros?"

"NO!"

"Geez, what's with the intense no Alice?" I asked turning their attention to me.

"There you are Soren, we were wondering where you were." Alice said with a huff.

"Yeah, you're usually here before me." Gareth said rummaging through the NES box, "Ghosts N' Goblins?"

"No."

"So why so defiant to play Mario?" I asked again.

"I haven't really felt like playing any game where we have been to the world that it takes place in, I haven't even played The Legend of Zelda since we went there."

"That was almost two months ago."

"It's still fresh in my mind when we went there though. It feels weird to play it again after that." She was right though; once you've experienced a world of a game for yourself it becomes odd to play it from a third person view and control someone else, "Now why were you late?"

"I stopped by the library to do some research on travelers and world jumpers." I replied sitting down next to the bed.

"Did you find anything?" Gareth asked done rummaging through the box, "You've been mad-dogging the subject since we got back and haven't found anything."

"If I had to guess I'd say books didn't help you?" Alice guessed.

"You'd be right there, but I did find someone online who went through the same experience in Castlvania on a forum."

"Don't trust people on forums Soren." Gareth said, "One minute you're having a nice chat and then they're insulting your mother. I don't even have a mother!"

"Trouble online Gareth?" Alice asked cocking an eyebrow.

"No, just jackasses across different continents thinking it's okay to insult others pisses me off." Gareth replied, "Also, Castlevania?"

"No."

"How long have you two been looking for a game to play?" I asked as Alice's response had some anger behind it.

"Too long." Alice said with a sigh.

"Maybe if someone wasn't so picky." Gareth said motioning to Alice.

"And maybe if someone didn't only recommend one player games!" Alice replied getting angrier; I think it was time for me to take over.

"Stop it you two, I'll find a game." Passing by them I rummaged through the box of games and saw the first Final Fantasy staring me in the face, "How about Final Fantasy? We can each choose a character in the party and control that person during the flow of battle making it a group dynamic and communication rather than just plain tactics." They sat there for a minute thinking then Gareth said something.

"What about the fourth?"

"Alternate control from person to person." They both gave a nod.

"Okay, Final Fantasy it is." Alice replied.

"Yeah because it's the one he chose." Gareth said passive aggressively.

"You want us to play a game? Make a convincing argument." Alice replied with her usual confident attitude. Sliding the game into the slot and closing it we started up the game of fantasies that was the first of many finals in the list…I think their up to fourteen now.

We spent a few hours and found ourselves still dealing with Garland and getting our butts kicked in record time.

"…either our teamwork sucks or we just suck at games." Gareth said as we died for the fifth time.

"I keep telling you to heal!" Alice said rubbing her forehead.

"I'm a black belt, I'm supposed to attack with all my might." Gareth replied, "Besides Soren kept wasting his turns on healing the white mage." So he wants to start something I see.

"If the white mage dies then we have no healer."

"The white mage can heal themselves." Alice said with a sigh, "You're a fighter, you attack!"

"And what about you miss black mage? Seems you keep using spells when they're clearly ineffective." I said sticking my tongue out at her.

"Want to keep that tongue? If not keep sticking it at me." Tongue goes back in my mouth, "Besides I have a knife, my weapon is barely a weapon at all and my spells are my best asset." We all went silent realizing that we all screwed up somehow with our communication.

"How is it that we could get through a world as a team and yet our communication is so lackluster it kills us in an RPG fight?" Gareth asked sulking.

"Different platform." I answered, "Like with Legend of Zelda and Mario it's always a different ball park when working from a controller and using your own two hands, it will always be a different story when in place and in third person."

"Even so this is pathetic." Alice said feeling defeated, "Maybe we should have grinded in the forest."

"Yeah going in at level one also didn't help us did it?" Another silence came over us.

"We just suck at games don't we?" Gareth asked. He wasn't wrong…we suck at games now but I'm guessing it wasn't always like that; at one point we were all at least decent gamers but it seems like now our gaming skills were worse than we expected.

"Maybe we're just too use to the actual adventure to get into gaming." I pointed out.

"That sucks." Gareth said tossing the controller, "If were not gamers any more than what do we do?" It was a good question; if we couldn't enjoy games than what was left for us to do as a group.

"I know." We heard a female voice emanate from all over the room and jumped in surprise, "I need your help again, lend me your strength and enter the world you've lost touch with in this realm." It was that female voice from the other adventures again.

"Again!?" Alice said surprised by the situation, "Before you decide to whisk us away to another world answer me a question." There was a silence as nothing happened, "I'll take that as a yes so…why us? So far you've sent us on two adventures and I want to know why." There was another silence and then she spoke.

"You are the only three I can rely on." The voice spoke with a sadness in her throat, "Please, lend me your power to stop him again, you are the only ones who I can rely on to help me."

"I have more questions first." Alice said not letting her slide under the rug on this.

"We'll help you." I hastily said surprising Gareth and causing Alice to sigh.

"Thank You, I appreciate your help." She replied.

"But once this adventure is over, you have to explain everything to us." I replied, this was our third time risking our life and since it seemed like whoever was directing us was giving us this time they were getting hesitant with relying on us, at this point she owed us answers and she knew it.

"Very well, once you have completed your quest I will answer all of your questions, I promise." After she said that a light enveloped the room as I felt my conscious mind fade into darkness.

I opened my eyes to see the blinding sun above me as I lied in a grassy field, the last time I woke up like this I could feel the wind blow over me but for some reason there was no wind to be felt; sitting up I looked around to see Alice and Gareth asleep in the same grassy field. I stood up and looked out to the south to see a large expanse of sea stretching over the horizon; the only notable landmark in the area was the large town to the north of us with a castle towering in the back of it. Hearing a yawn I looked over to see Gareth stretching as he stood up and Alice giving me a glare.

"I know, you're pissed because I agreed to it too quickly." I said trying to apologize when I heard her give a small chuckle.

"Actually…I knew you were going to do that." She knew me really well by this point.

"Well, we're here now so let's get moving!" Gareth said pumped for our adventure, "You ready Soren? Now that we're on this adventure before it ends I want to go up against you in a practice match!" He still wanted to do that? I promised him a match the last time but we never got around to it, guess I still had to keep my promise.

"Bring it on!" I said confidently.

"Before you two decide to get into a brawl how about we figure out where we are." Alice said refocusing us.

"Well there's a town right over there so we should probably head there and get some information." I said pointing to the nearby town.

"Sounds good to me." Gareth said heading for the town ahead of us. We entered the town and found it well populated; from the entrance we had view to see that there were different shops in the town including two magic shops and an armory with a normal item shop next to it.

"A town, ah it's good to see an actual area of people instead of bunkers and ruined towns." She was right, this was the first time we had actually been in a town with people while on an adventure, it was nice to see the world thriving while in danger at the same time.

"This just means that we're going to have to buy equipment to stay strong." Gareth pointed out making me search my belt for any items; all I could find was a small bag with about 200 gold coins, guess this was currency in this world.

"We should gather info about this world before doing anything." I pointed out making Alice and Gareth nod in agreement. We split up and talked to various villagers gaining some idea of what was happening in this world. Apparently the four elements of the world were dying off and they had taken a toll on the land; the wind had stopped completely making it almost impossible for ships to sail across the sea, the water had become contaminated and making almost all water undrinkable and poisonous, the heat and fire of the world raged out of control making desserts much more hazardous and volcanoes more volatile and the earth had begun to rot away making crops unable to grow. With these problems in the world it narrowed down where we were to an incredible degree that I had no doubt about where we were.

"Soren, are we were I think we are?" Alice asked unsure of her answer.

"If what they said is true than that means-"

"Yes Gareth, we are in the world of the first Final Fantasy."


	2. Chapter 2

We stood in the first town of the Final Fantasy game in which had the most basic of needs and leisure; everything from magic and weapon shops to bars and gentleman clubs could be found in this town, although the one thing that would catch your eye first would be the enormous castle standing tall in the far end of town. That was currently where we had decided to visit in order to get the info we needed to start our hunt for the warriors of light in order to join them and help them complete their quest to save this world.

"So we're going to the king to find out where he sent the WOLs next?" Gareth asked.

"WOLs?" What was that acronym?

"Warriors of Light, keep up Soren."

"We're headed there because if they have already saved the princess than we need to know otherwise we'll waste time traveling to Garland's lair when we could just cross the bridge and keep time on our side."

"It sounds good but will we even get an audience with the king?" Alice asked.

"…yes?"

"Why do you sound unsure!?"

"I mean he met with the WOLs so we should be good right?"

"Using my acronym already?"

"They had a reason to meet him that concerned the world, we've got jack for a reason!" As we argued I felt a spear poke me and I stopped.

"Halt!" Two guards stood in front of us blocking our path to the castle entryway, "What business do you have with the king!" They gave us a distrusting glare as we stood there nervous as they pointed their spears at us.

"First off, put the spears down." Alice said keeping her cool, "Second, we just want to know where the Warriors of Light went last." They gave each other a glance and stood at attention.

"They left only a few hours ago to rescue the princess from disgraced knight Garland. We now wait for their return." Finishing up they stood quiet, obviously done divulging any more information.

"Thank you very much." Alice replied curtly and we walked away, "So looks like we're headed to Garland's castle."

"All right! And here I thought we would miss out on a fight with a disgraced knight." Gareth said pumped to start a new adventure. Before we could start though we had to gather supplies or at least weapons in order to survive outside this town; we hit the weapon shop first and found it to be…less than ideal to get our preferred choice of weaponry. Their stock was lacking heavily, the only weapons hey had were rapiers, knives, staves, hammers and something called a nunchaku; deciding this was the best we were going to get me and Alice purchased two rapiers and Gareth went with the hammer and thinking back on my previous fights I purchased a knife to give me more skill with using two weapons at once.

"Why do you want to dual wield." Alice asked a little confused by my interest.

"Well in our last fight with Damien it gave me a better edge against him and made it possible to get rid of his extra arms as well as gave me equal opportunity to attack from either side if necessary as well as left my speed unaffected by keeping equal weight on each side so I wasn't fumbling around." I explained calmly as she just glared at me with eyes that told me she knew there was more to my infatuation, "It's soooooo cool!" I finally blurted as she nodded content with getting her answer…she got me.

"That's it?" Gareth said obviously judging my reasons, "Why do you think I chose the battle axe as my weapon?" his is Gareth, why would he choose a battle axe?

"…power." I answered giving him cause to be surprised.

"Yep, power." Alice said agreeing with me.

"You guys suck…"

Finishing up our shopping with only ten gil left we headed for the castle to the north where Garland was as well as the warriors of light; it was only a few hours since they left so we should be able to catch up with them at the ruined shrine and hopefully before they face off against Garland, if I know the cloaked man then he's already in league with Garland and that is never a good thing for heroes. As we traveled we encountered different monsters that seemed to be more than hostile towards our group of three but our skill was enough to defeat most adversaries in our way without too much trouble.

"Hey, do you think we should have grabbed a few spells before leaving the town?" Alice asked picking our spoils up from the recent fight.

"Do you think we could afford it, after everything we bought we only had ten gil left." I answered back making her nod.

"This hammer sucks!" Gareth said tossing from hand to hand, "It has no edge."

"Hence it being a hammer." Alice said being snarky.

"We'll get you something better eventually. I mean, look at me, I'm using a thin stabbing sword for hacking and slashing apart enemies." And it definitely wasn't easy to do. As we came upon the ruins of the shrine the area seemed covered in dark clouds that surrounded only this area, "Bizzare."

"You said it." Gareth replied. Pushing the creepy feeling aside we entered the shrine and as soon as we crossed the threshold we heard sounds of metal clashing from the room directly in front of us; looks like the warriors were already in a fight. We rushed forward and found the door to be locked tight for some reason; this door was never locked before, why now? Suddenly we heard the sound of thunder and then the sound of someone getting slashed; deciding that finding the key was going to take too long we busted down the door as it flew from its hinges to the ground. When we looked in front of us we saw Garland standing there with his cape blowing to the side triumphantly as a warrior in red armor from their feet to head kneeled in front of him clutching their chest with their right hand on their chest and holding a longsword with the left hand. Above Garland were three large blue floating orbs that held three different people; one held a red mage in a large red cloak concealing them, the next orb had a black belt in a large cloak that concealed any form of skin while the last orb had a girl with medium length red hair and wore half rimmed glasses as she wore a large white cloak. Wait…was it that girl!?

"What's she doing here!?" I yelled surprised.

"What is it Soren?" Alice asked surprised at my outburst.

"That girl, I met her before we even got here, she was at the library and I helped her home before I came to the hospital."

"So that's why you were late. You dog!" Gareth said nudging me; was this really the time!?

"So you've been hanging around with other girls?" Alice said sounding more than a little pissed.

"Can we come back to this matter later? We have a bigger problem!" I said pointing to Garland who stood there staring at us; he stepped forward and I watched as the warrior stood up shakily and held their blade ready to fight.

"Resilient little one aren't you?" Garland said but the warrior didn't reply they just stood there unmoving, then we heard a shaky voice speak.

"R-release…them…y-y-you fie-fiend." The warrior was speaking with the last of their strength as they stood shaking; I don't think they had the strength to fight. Looking at Gareth and Alice we all nodded and drew our weapons standing in front of the wounded warrior who shifted surprised at our appearance.

"We've got this, you sit back and rest." They stood there surprised and didn't move until they fell backwards with a loud thud; now we had to fight Garland. We stood there staring at each other until he chuckled as though a joke was just told.

"So he was right." Garland said putting his sword away, "He told me three people would show up, one rash and larger than the others, one with a grimace like the one the lady gave the lad and one with a determined expression befitting of a fool in over their head." So I was right.

"You might as well come out now! No use hiding from us!" I shouted at every corner of the room; there was a small silence and then three people morphed in from the shadow, it was Damien, Lissa and the cloaked boss all giving us very different looks; the boss gave a large grin while Damien had a hungry look of desire on his face as he stared at us but Lissa kept her head down and didn't look us in the eye, she would occasionally glance at me before putting her head down and looking away.

"So I was right, you showed up again and you brought your little friends; seems like I just can't shake you from my coat tail." He stepped forward and I could feel an overpowering aura attempt to crush me, "But I told you that the next time we meet I would kill you, no matter how fascinating your mental other is I have had enough of you interfering with my recruitment." He opened his cloak to reveal that both of his hands were still there.

"That's impossible!" Gareth shouted in disbelief, "I cut your left arm off!" He was right, at the end of our last battle Gareth had severed his left arm from his body.

"There are too many worlds with the technology or magic to bring someone's limb back without a scratch so let's just leave it at that." He pulled out the master sword again and brandished it at us; I pulled out my rapier and knife ready to fight and he just laughed, "You think you can beat me with those poor excuses for weapons? Ridiculous!" He once again exerted a powerful aura blast and I watched as my weapons shattered to dust upon contact. Regardless I ran at him with my fist and swung as he side stepped and kicked me with his foot sending me to the ground; as he came up to strike Alice and Gareth moved to block but the moment their weapons collided Alice and Gareth went flying in different directions across the room as their weapons turned to nothing; that sword was too powerful. I stood up and tried swinging again only to feel my gut collide with his knee and send me back down, "Is that all you three have, to think in two worlds you were such adversaries but here you can barely fight, then again…I was never fighting you seriously before. Without that handicap you can't handle even my most basic moves." I tried standing up but he grabbed me by my neck and lifted me up to his eye level as he squeezed my windpipe, "To think you caused me so much trouble before…it's almost laughable to think you stood up to me this long, resilient and sturdy…laughable traits really. No matter how resilient you are, without strength it's nothing…that's why I wanted Jarek, he had strength, more than I expected to come out of that weak body you share, Gareth also held that strength but that's a lost cause at this point." I felt my vision fade as I tried to stay conscious, "Knowing your influence though, I believe they'll try to stop me as well, guess two more will join you in death." Alice…Gareth…no! Looking him in the eye I used all my strength to try and pry his fingers from my throat, "You still want to fight, perfect!" He gripped tighter and if not for my will I might have lost consciousness there, "I want to see that fire in your eyes die slowly; it will make this so much more satisfying!" He squeezed harder and harder as I felt my body start to give. I can't give up here!

"Y-you won't st-sto-stop me! A-As long as I c-can sti-still fight I w-will never let you hurt those I care about!"

As I said those words I watched as Lissa moved from her point and with rapid speed pierced through the bosses arm with her tail causing him to let go and I felt my body crash to the ground. I hacked and coughed as air rushed into my lungs as I stood up surprised at the turn of events; Lissa just saved me from her own boss and I couldn't for the life of me figure out why. I looked up to see Lissa protecting me as she stood in front of the two with her arms and wings outstretched as her tail stood at attention.

"Have you lost your mind!?" Damien shouted at Lissa as she stood stone faced, "You're going to betray us to save him!?"

"I can't do this anymore!" Lissa said confidently, "I can't watch as you destroy traveler after traveler for whatever reason you want, I've seen others fall into the web you've spun…even I fell into it…but I won't follow you anymore!"

"Are you crazy!? Wha-" Before he could finish his sentence the boss held his hand up silencing him.

"Strange that you've decided to fight back this far in, you've seen countless others fall into the abyss you've gone in but now you decide to climb out. Is it because of him? Does he remind you of someone?"

"Stop it. I won't let you play on my insecurities and fears anymore, I will not let these three become another casualty in this twisted game you've concocted!"

"Good speech but if I had to guess I'd say you've been thinking this for a while haven't you?" She went silent as he said this, "Unfortunate, I would have liked to keep you around but if it must come to this then so be it!" Standing up I moved in front of her and picked up a broken blade on the ground.

"Soren!" Lissa said surprised, "Sit down, I'll protect you."

"Lissa, they won't let either of us survive if we don't both fight back! I won't let them just win without a fight! Count On It!" I stared at him and he gave me a puzzled look before he sheathed his blade.

"Interesting…looks like I might have another chance, Damien, let's go." The man turned around and Damien gave him a confused look.

"But sir we-"

"We're going Damien, this is not the end though." As Damien joined him he turned around and gave us a cocky grin, "Enjoy your betrayal for now, you still hold something of mine, and I will return to take it by force eventually. You will not live long!" With that he faded away into the shadows leaving no presence of him being there; he would be back though.

As I fell to the ground exhausted Lissa caught me and I looked up at her; this was different from the Lissa I had met in Hyrule, while that Lissa had a sly and deceiving look in her eye this Lissa's face was soft and her eyes were gentle and welcoming…it was like looking at an two faced actors true face. Instead of feeling worried I felt safe.

"Even without him here I will still not lose to you!" We looked up to see Garland standing over us brandishing his longsword; he rose it above our heads and I tried to get up to dodge but felt my body refuse to move, I was too weak from the fight to move! Before he brought it down he gave a low guttural sound of pain and collapsed to the side with a thump as Alice stood over him with a longsword in her hands.

"Alice!" Before I could give my thanks I watched as Alice pushed Lissa backwards dropping me to the ground as Alice brought the longsword to Lissa's throat.

"You! If you don't scram within the next millisecond I'm going to chop your head clean from your body!" Alice threatened bringing the blade closer to Lissa's throat as it pushed against her skin.

"Alice stop!" I yelled trying to get up. I felt Gareth grab me before I tried moving.

"Stay out of this Soren, I won't let her trick us again!"

"She saved me though!"

"I don't care! It could be a trick! They could have this all planned out! I'm not taking any chances with her!"

"Alice, stop! She won't trick us, we have to trust her, she saved my life!"

"She almost took you away last time!" Alice screamed, "The last time we trusted her she almost took you away from me! I can't lose you Soren; you're the first friend I trust completely, I won't lose you now!" Alice…

"Okay." Lissa replied putting her down and her tail and wings disappeared.

"What?" Alice said in surprised.

"I can't excuse my actions before…I regret it but if you do not trust me then please kill me if you must…I cannot go back to them." The next minute passed by like an hour as we waited for Alice's next move; she pulled the blade back and stuck it into the ground shocking Lissa, "But…I-"

"I may not trust you but I can't kill someone who doesn't fight back…Soren." I looked at her and she gave me a stare that screamed not to lie to her, "What do you want to do with her?" Thinking about the tension of the room I most likely would have said to let her go and we keep going without her…but…

"Let her come with us." Alice gave a sigh and looked away.

"I knew you would say that…alright, but let it be clear!" She turned back to Lissa and pointed at her, "If you betray us again like you did last time I will not hesitate to kill you even if you don't fight back, GOT IT!?" She was deathly serious as she said that, it was almost scary to see but Lissa kept composed as she nodded back with a look of understanding; she knew why Alice treated her like this and she had to live with that fact...it was something Alice couldn't forget apparently.

After the begrudged truce was established we all moved to the full body armor warrior and saw they were still breathing but slowly; the orbs that had hung in the air were now gone with those inside gone as well, in the center of the room laid Princess Sarah who was unconscious at the moment. I had Alice grab the princess as Gareth and I worked on stripping the warrior of his bulky armor to get them back to town easier; as we stripped them we saw they were a man based on the physical build, as I removed the helmet I saw shocked to see the face behind it. I knew this face, it was a face that I could never forget; as I looked everyone else came over and gave a surprised gasp, finally it was Lissa who said something.

"He looks just like Soren!"


	3. Chapter 3

The walk back to Cornelia was done in complete silence with no one looking at anyone else; it wasn't only because we were currently carting someone who liked exactly like me but also because we were traveling with Lissa, someone who we had fought before and didn't have the best relationship with based on when she deceived and betrayed us before…but she saved me and put her life on the line for it so I had to give her a chance…there was always something genuine about her I couldn't put my finger on but it always stuck in my mind that there was more to her, I had to give her a chance. I looked behind me to see Alice had her right hand glued to the hilt of the longsword she picked up earlier while Lissa walked at the back of the pack with her head hung low; she was carrying Sarah while Gareth was carrying the warrior on his back. It was a heavy tension as we walked, Alice was bleeding an aura of distrust while Gareth seemed to be slightly suspicious of her; he didn't know her as well as Alice and I did but he could sense that something was up from how she acted, his eyes were darting back from Lissa to Alice and to the front all in rapid motions. This was not going to be a good walk back.

Eventually we all made it back to Cornelia and took the princess to the castle; when we approached the entrance the guards gave a startled look and led up to the princesses chamber where we set the princess down on her luxurious bed and then they had us put the warrior in the castle clinic room.

"Thank you for saving the princess." One of the guards said giving us a short bow, "The king would like to see you to thank you for saving his daughter." The guard ushered the four of us to the throne room where the king sat on the throne with a big smile on his face; the throne room itself was small but as it was on the second floor so it had a view of the town from the windows giving full reign over everything in the town.

"Brave warriors!" The king shouted pulling me from my thoughts, "Thank you for saving my daughter from the evil Garland, I must ask why you changed armor good sir?" He asked that directly looking at me.

"Um…I'm not the warrior, I'm just a simple traveler from a foreign land." He gave me a confused look as I said that.

"But you look identical to the leader of the warriors of light, are you sure?"

"He's currently passed out in the infirmary." Alice answered, "And you're right, they look exactly the same. But they're not the same person." She then looked at me with a quizzical look, "…I'm pretty sure."

"I'm standing right here!"

"That doesn't convince me." Gareth added on, "You could have a twin we don't know about." He couldn't be this stupid.

"I only have a sister Gareth and that's barely my family." The king cleared his throat bringing us back to his attention.

"Where are the other warriors then?" The king asked.

"We…don't know. They were in orbs and when we defeated Garland they all disappeared and we're not sure what happened to them."

"Then it is only the one warrior we have now…what shall we do?" He sat there contemplating what his next step of action would be, "Without the others we don't have the orbs and even worse he can't take on the world on his own."

"Um…what about us?" We all turned to see Lissa had spoken up, "We could join the warrior of light and help him journey to save the world…and we can even look for the other warriors along the way." Her plan sounded good but I could hear a groan from Alice and a chuckle from Gareth.

"Sounds good to me." I said agreeing with her plan, it was the only way we were going to keep moving so and we had to let the WOLs or WOL in this case travel with us and help them complete their mission, "We would be glad to help the warrior of light on his mission to save the world and locate his friends." I looked back at Alice and Gareth, "You guys good with this plan?" Gareth gave me a thumbs up while Alice gave a begrudging nod…I'm going to have to talk to her later.

"Perfect! Then I will get to work on repairing the bridge, it may take a couple days so I welcome you to stay in the guest chambers while the bridge is being repaired, enjoy your stay…and don't touch my daughter!" That last line was…weird…but now we had some wait time on our hands so now I had no idea what to do…guess I just have two days to waste here in town then…maybe I'll practice my skills.

Day 1 (Morning): Gareth

I woke up stretching, it was nice to wake up on a comfortable bed instead of one riddled with broken bed strings and possibly bed bugs; everyone else had already woken up and were gone leaving there beds in different conditions. Soren's was slightly messy with the under cloak pulled out and the blankets askew and rumpled, like he tossed and turned in his sleep; Alice's was completely thrown apart with blankets not even on the bed but thrown to the side with nothing left on the bed…not even the pillows! Lissa's was neat and it looked like she had smoothed out any wrinkles in the sheets, she must have made her bed when she got up; she must be neat and orderly. Getting out of bed and putting my clothes on I decided to make the beds because it keeps the sheets clean and makes laundry more bearable; it's never easy to clean sheets without a washer and dryer at the orphanage.

Finishing up my clean up I looked out the window to see Soren practicing with two practice swords in the yard just outside the castle; sounds like my chance to go spar with him! I rushed out the door and felt as my face collided with someone knocking us both down; when I looked to see who it was I saw a Lissa rubbing her forehead.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't see you there." I helped her up and she backed up slowly.

"No, it's my fault; I didn't see where I was going." She dusted her dress off and looked away; she was wearing a simple white dress with a red bow wrapped around the waist, "So…I better get moving." As she moved past me something compelled me to do something.

"Wait!" I don't know if I was pulled in by her cute dress or her innocent speech patter but I couldn't see why Alice didn't trust her; the last time we ran into her as an enemy she didn't really seem like an enemy…just someone confused about themselves, "Would…would you like to hang out for a bit?" Her face lit up a bit as I said that.

"Sure, I would like that." I could spar with Soren later, for now I guess I could spend time with our new teammate, that's what Soren would do any way; if it were him then he would spend time with her and gain her trust, time to get trustworthy.

We decided to go into town and get some supplies for our trip in two days, we stopped by the weapon shop to get back our broken weapons and then hit the item shop to restock on potions and tents.

"Should we hit the magic shops to get some spells?" Lissa asked as we paid the vendor; it was a good question but the main problem was that I didn't have a good grasp of how to use magic, even against the piranha plant I wasn't able to entirely use the fire flower to enhance my weapon. I was lucky that it stayed on the weapon when I struck the main vine; but Soren and Alice seemed to have a better grasp of it than me…I guess we should pick up some books.

"Sure. Soren and Alice should be able to use it." She gave me a nod and we headed to each magic shop grabbing any spell we could; when we were done I looked at our bag to see two lonely gold pieces lying at the bottom, "I think we're done shopping now." Stuffing the remains into my pocket we decided to head back to the castle and see what was happening there.

"Thanks for hanging out with me." Lissa said as we walked, "It's nice to know you gave me a chance, it means a lot." I felt my cheeks heat up as she said that.

"Well, Soren would have done the same so…I thought I'd take his approach and give you a chance." She giggled a little when I said that.

"Yeah…he would have, he's always been like that hasn't he?" She was right he has…always been…like that…huh.

"Hey, how do you know all this?" I asked curious of her previous knowledge on my friend.

"Whenever you guys have had a run in with the boss he always recorded his encounters as well as our encounters with you." So he has data on us, interesting.

"Why?"

"I don't know, he always recorded recruitments but usually he would scrap data when it became irrelevant. Before I betrayed them I noticed that he held onto every piece of data pertaining to you three and it was weird, he seems obsessed with it." The cloaked guy seems like a nut job, but I suppose after enough failed attempts people become crazy, "I always looked over the data and found out a lot about him because of them."

"Why just him?"

"There is a lot of data on Soren because he is the first person before Alice showed up and for some reason…the boss had him tracked by a few other travelers for some reason. I don't know why though." Weird…what did Soren have that the cloaked guy wanted, "Besides, there are things I don't know and I want to get to know them personally." She had a good heart.

"Hey, why did you bet-" Before I finished my sentence I looked out the window to see that Soren was gone. Where did he go and for a matter of fact where was Alice all day?

Day 1 (Evening): Alice

I gave a long sigh as I waited for the warrior wake up; I was here since I woke up because I had nothing else to do with my day, I didn't want to hang out with Gareth and end up arguing over nothing, Soren was pissing me off and the succubus was the last person I wanted to see at all! Why did Soren trust her, even if she did save him she still almost killed him three different times in my book; once in the beginning at the shelter, once when Jarek took over and once when she separated us in the eighth dungeon…I don't care what Soren says or even if Gareth is on her side, I can't trust her…I won't trust her.

"How long is he going to be out?" I asked no one in particular, I was hoping that he would wake up and I could ask him some questions but he was still passed out; from what the physician said he had pushed himself too much and would be out for a while, just like Soren…maybe they are the same person after all. Everything about these two was exactly the same; height, hair length, eye color, weight, even preferred weapon were the same, it was like seeing another Soren…creepy. Deciding this was a lost cause I left the infirmary and heard someone come down the hallway.

"(whew) That gave me some new techniques to focus on at least and hopefully my skill improved." That was Soren's voice…right he was practicing in the field earlier which means he was done practicing now…and he was headed this way!? Maybe he's just passing by, "I should check to see if that warrior is awake." Crap, he's coming this way! I looked around franticly and ran towards the nearest door and closed it behind me…whew.

"Oh, hello there." I turned around to see the princess sitting on her bed giving me a gentle smile as she brushed her hair, "What brings you here?"

"Oh…well, I'm…avoiding…person…" She giggled as I tried to find the words to explain my predicament.

"Seems you're avoiding a certain gentleman." Gentleman?

"He's no gentleman, He's stupider than you could believe. I mean…he trusted a long time enemy and now that person is traveling with us."

"Really?"

"Yep and after everything she did to him he still gives her a chance? He's stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid!" I felt my face heat up with anger as I said this.

"So why don't you like this girl?" Why don't I like her?

"She hurt Soren…I don't want him to be hurt again."

"So he means a lot to you?" A lot? Kind of…

"He's my best friend…I don't want him to end up dead."

"Well why did he trust this girl this time?"

"She saved his life and he said something about her aura being sincere and her eyes being honest and I don't know about that." Even though he seems sure and his instinct has been good so far I can't trust her, not after what she did to us.

"Are you jealous?" Jealous?

"Jealous of what? What do I have to be jealous of?" I felt my face heat up and looked away; why was I blushing?

"Never mind." She giggled as she said that and pulled out a lute, "I'd like to thank you four for saving me, please take this lute." She handed me a small guitar like instrument and smiled at me…I don't know why she was giving me a lute but I'll take it, maybe Gareth or Soren could play it. Leaving her room I tiptoed to the infirmary and opened the door slowly seeing Soren looking over the doppelganger passed out in the bed. Jealous…why would I be jealous of that succubus…I'm losing it, time for bed.

Day 2 (Morning): Lissa

I woke up and shook my head as my hair flew around wildly in a bed head like manner; is bed head like the signature look of a succubus? Every time I wake up my hair looks like it went through a blender; I smoothed it out as well as I could and looked over to see Gareth and Alice were still asleep and giving their own form of noises in their sleep. Gareth snored loudly with a smile on his face while Alice slept soundly and quietly but she would occasionally giggle in her sleep, she must be having a nice dream; looks like Soren already woke up. I looked out the window to see Soren was reading the books we brought back from the magic shops, he would look over the book and hold out his hand and shout spell names and they seemed to be working with both black and white magic from what I saw him practice. He stopped as he noticed me in the window and gave me a wave which I gave back…why did he trust me? After everything I did to him he still gave me a chance and he looked at me like he would a friend or trusted ally…it was nice to be looked at that way, whenever I would spend time with other travelers that the boss recruited they would always keep their heads down and avoid others; even at home it was the same…well…except for him. I turned around and got dressed into the casual clothing they gave us for staying in town, it was better than wearing our traveling clothes everywhere, besides it made me feel pretty.

I headed out to the courtyard to join Soren in his training, I didn't have anything to do so I might as well join in some strength building; as I approached him he looked up in surprise and then chuckled at me.

"What's so funny?"

"I'm guessing you came to join me in training?"

"Yeah, why?" He pointed to my body.

"I don't think someone can train effectively in something so…cute." He said laughing as I turned beat red, "I'll be back then." I quickly ran away to change my clothes; as I ran back I stopped dead in my tracks as I locked eyes with Alice as I turned the corner, we both stood there with a stunned look for a minute and then Alice gave me a mean frown and walked by me stomping away; I guess she still didn't like me. I switched into my travel attire which was a purple t-shirt with a white jacket and blue shorts and rushed back out to the courtyard and as I approached him I saw Alice was also standing next to him. I felt my heart race as she glared at me, one mistake in front of her and I'd be reduced to nothing by her hand.

"Why is she here?" Alice asked sounding pissed.

"Well I didn't expect her but she came out to train with me and then went back to change so looks like we've got one more person." Soren said with a smile, Alice shot me a glare and then sighed, "Come on Alice, give her a chance, I'm sure she can be trusted." He said petting her on the head.

"No, but I will practice with you to get an idea of what magic I can use." Alice said brushing his hand off. Soren handed us each a different book of magic, I was holding a book of healing, healing was a form of white magic that could heal minor wounds.

"Alright, will start with Lissa, go ahead and use the white magic on me while Alice slaps me across the face." Was he serious!?

"I already like this plan!" Alice said enthusiastically cracking her knuckles; as I read the book Alice reeled back her hand and I watched as it collided with Soren's face and gave off a loud sound of a smack that left a large burning red mark on Soren's left cheek. He stood there with a stunned expression as Alice had a content smile; I skimmed through the book till I found the page explaining how to use the spell and gently held out my hand.

"Heal." I watched as a white light built on my hand and shot out surrounding Soren and then gathering at his slap mark; we watched as the slap mark disappeared without a trace, "Wow, white magic is amazing!"

"Well I feel better, the pain is still memorized in my brain but my cheek feels a lot better."

"I hope you memorize that pain!" Alice said with a huff.

"Do you want to slap me again?" As he finished that sentence Alice slapped him across the face again and he fell to the ground, "Feel better?" Soren gave her a smile and she swayed a little from right to left with her hips.

"…A little." Alice replied with a small smile, how did he know that would cheer her up? I handed the tome to Alice who swiped it quickly from my hand and skimmed through the book, "Heal!" She held up her hand but nothing came out or even gathered on her hand, looks like healing magic isn't her forte. She threw the book back at me and helped Soren up and rubbed the cheek she hit, "I really leave a mark don't I?"

"You're telling me, the pain is extraordinary." They both laughed as I healed the cheek leaving nothing behind. Deciding to move on Alice picked up the fire tome, fire was a form of black magic and if she couldn't use white magic she might be stronger in black magic. She held out her hand with great force.

"Fire!" As she said that a dark energy swirled around it and gathered in her palm where once it gathered a ball of fire soared out and hit the castle wall dissipating with nowhere to spread leaving a small burn mark, "Sweet!" She cheered at her use of it and tossed the book at me with more force than before; ignoring her passive aggressive actions I skimmed the book and held out my hand.

"Fire." Nothing even formed around my hand as I said those words; looks like I won't be able to use black magic.

"Interesting." We turned to Soren who had a smile on his face as he watched my failure.

"What's so interesting?" Alice asked confused.

"It seems magic is subjective to a person's personality." What did he mean by that; he held out his hand in a gentle manner, "A gentler person can control white magic." He then pushed out his hand with force, "While black magic can be used with a more forceful approach." That made sense; I took the softer more cooperative approach when using magic while Alice seemed to force it out with her will.

"So I'm able to use magic because I have a brasher personality?" Alice asked Soren; careful Soren, it's a trap!

"Maybe not brasher but…more…um…controlling?"

"Controlling?"

"Yeah, you know, more in control."

"Oh…okay I guess." Dodged a bullet with that one.

"While Lissa has a more cooperative approach, instead of controlling the magic like you do, she has the magic help her. White magic is passive while black magic is aggressive." He made it sound logical but if Alice bothered to ask questions on specifications she might hit him again.

We spent a few more hours practicing the magic and it was very quiet except for when Soren was helping us, he never worked with both of us though he always played mediator and worked with us one at a time as Alice wasn't willing to work with me at all. When we finished up Alice walked away once she finished speaking with Soren about whatever they discussed…probably about me being here. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to join them after all.

"You okay?" I looked up to see Soren looking at me with a worried look on his face.

"It's just a little disheartening with how Alice treats me." I said looking down.

"Lissa, I may trust you but Alice isn't so easy." He gave me a serious look that sent chills down my spine, "She doesn't let people into her heart very easily and with how you were when we first met you it becomes harder for her to even give you a chance. If you want to gain her trust it isn't going to be easy and I won't be able to help you, you have to give her a reason to give you a chance." He left me with that as he walked away leaving me to my thoughts…he was right though, I caused them both a lot of problems and I couldn't even ask for their forgiveness…I didn't deserve it anyway.

Day 2 (Evening): Gareth

I had wandered around the town for a few hours with nothing to do and nowhere I could go, most of the town was uninteresting and I had seen it yesterday; maybe I should have joined Soren in his practice but Alice and Lissa joined him and that was enough tension to cut a two by four of wood. I might as well head back to the castle then. As I headed back I looked to see Princess Sarah strolling through the town; why was she here?

"Hey Sarah." The princess looked over and gave me a gentle smile that almost made me melt.

"Hello, it is good to see you again."

"What are you doing out of the castle?"

"I occasionally visit the town and see the people so I don't lose touch with them. The trust of the people is important to keep." Trust…

"Hey can I get your advice?" She cocked her head to the side waiting for me to say something, "One of my allies was an enemy before and now she is with us but she doesn't seem to pose any ill will but another ally doesn't believe that and is still skeptical." She giggled when I finished and I felt my face heat up, she was too cute.

"Well I would say that you should give her a chance, if she risked her life for you guys then it's worth giving her a chance. If she wants to gain your trust then she will try her best and then it will be worth it because you know that your trust was worth the effort she put in and then you can begin to trust her." She spoke regally and with sense that made me feel better with her explanation.

"Thank You. That actually helps a lot." She smiled again with a giggle.

"I hope it helps you." I looked up to see the sun was beginning to set turning the town dark.

"We should head back before it gets dark." I said ushering her towards the castle.

"Yes, let us head back." She took my arm and we headed back as I internally screamed at the idea that a princess was holding onto my arm, this world is the best ever.

Soren

I walked into the room after checking up on the warrior again and saw everyone was sleeping and sound…well…except Gareth who sounded like a chainsaw. Switching into sleeping attire I laid down on my bed and thought about how tomorrow the bridge would be fixed and we could move on to the next area to truly start our adventure…and hopefully the warrior would wake up by then. Why did he look just like me, it was ominous to think that there was someone who looked exactly like me and hopefully tomorrow we would find out why.


	4. Chapter 4

Morning broke, shining through the window into our room prompting us to get up and get ready for our adventure to begin. I looked over to see Gareth and Lissa start to stir from their beds; I sat up stretching my arms out as everyone started to move, I stepped onto the floor and shook my head trying to get my blood moving. Normally it would take more to get me up but with what we had to do I had no time to be lazy…but I guess that doesn't stop someone from lazing around. I looked at Alice who was still deep in sleep as she rolled around gently breathing.

"Alice, it's time to get up, we have an adventure to go on." I shook her shoulder and she slowly opened her eyes before they went wide and I felt her hand slap me across the face.

"What are you doing in my room this early!?" She shouted at me.

"We share the same room, remember?" She looked around before chuckling nervously.

"Right…sorry, usually when I wake up in a bed you're either not there or I'm in my hospital bed which means you still aren't there."

"And your first instinct is to slap me?"

"What would you do if I was in your room when you woke up?"

"I'd question it but I don't think I'd slap you." The mark she left was burning hot and red leaving me to wonder if she could break a nose or tooth with her slap.

"That looked like it hurt." Gareth said with a big grin.

"What do you think?" After a bit we all gathered our supplies and headed to the infirmary to check on my doppelganger who's been asleep for three days now, when we entered the room we saw the double currently moving his arms around; must be making sure his body can still move after being stuck in bed for three days. As we closed the door he looked over and his eyes widened as he looked at me; he backed up and moved into a battle stance as he stared daggers at me.

"Who are you?" As he said that his eyes darted around the room obviously looking for a weapon.

"Well I'm Soren." I said calmly as he picked up a jar, "That's Alice, he's Gareth and that's Lissa. We're not here to hurt you."

"Why do you look like me?" That's a good question.

"We were hoping you could answer that question." Lissa said hiding behind me, "We were a bit confused when you passed out and then your helmet fell off and you looked like Soren." He raised his eyebrow in surprise then became more relaxed.

"You guys saved me?" He said putting the jar down, "Where are the others? Where's Hana, Pent and Sena?" Those must be the other three heroes in this world.

"They were taken by Garland and were not sure where he sent them before we took him out." Alice replied, "I'm guessing that he sent them far away from here though."

"But why would he do that?" Gareth asked confused by the ides of separating the heroes.

"I think I know why." The lookalike began, he pulled out a small clear orb and held it out for us to see, "We each hold an orb that has the power to reactivate the crystals that govern this world, and we need all four orbs in order to reactivate each crystal. One orb isn't enough to save this world and without them I can't defeat the protectors of the crystals on my own." He gripped the orb tightly as he realized the bleakness of his situation.

"Well you aren't on your own." Gareth said making him look up, "We'll help you. That's why we went to help you in the first time."

"Really? But I don't even know you guys…why do you want to help me?" He gave us a skeptical look as he said that.

"He's definitely not you." Alice said with a light chuckle, "Look, can you really question our willingness to help; odds are that this is the best help you can get right now." Alice said trying to convince him.

"That doesn't mean I should trust you." Alice quickly stomped down on his foot as he shrieked in pain.

"We're helping you, deal with it! My god, you want to complain about free help?" Alice said getting pissed at his skeptical nature.

"Okay, jeez…what's with her?" He asked rubbing his now bruised foot; I gave him a shrug as Alice stood next to me with a proud smile on her face.

"Anyway, what's your name?" I asked as he stood up.

"My name is Kent, warrior class and leader of the warriors of light." He responded confidently, he definitely had the presence of a warrior with his lean toned muscles and tanned skin showing he frequently spent time outside. As we came to an agreement to travel together the door opened and a soldier entered and bowed to all of us.

"The king would like to see all of you before you leave." With that he walked away leaving us to get ready, our adventure was about to start.

Once Kent was equipped and put his red shining armor on we headed to the throne room; upon entering we saw as the king and princess were sitting in the center giving us a gentle smile.

"Brave warriors, I would like to thank you again for saving my daughter from Garland and I wish you luck with your quest to save our world from darkness and evil." After he said that Kent bowed to the king and motioned for us to do the same, must be a respect thing, "With that I send you off with this to get you started." A guard came over and handed me a small satchel, inside were about two thousand pieces of gold; this was far more than I expected from a king.

"Are you sure your majesty?" I asked and he chuckled.

"It's the least I can do for you, now go brave heroes and begin your adventure. Save this world from the evil that has enveloped it." We left the castle and exited the town approaching the now reconstructed bridge feeling a sense of tension and responsibility weigh on our shoulders; honestly this would be one of our toughest adventures compared to the other two. We had to travel across the world and defeat monster after monster in order to save this world; we would go against creatures ten times our size and fight to survive against impossible odds that could kill us…but we had to win, if we gave up here then surviving the last two adventures would be worthless; besides we had a new team member to learn about and bring back with us. We can't die yet; as I contemplated this I felt someone grab my shoulder and saw Gareth giving me a worried look.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, just thinking about how far we've come."

"You go the strength to keep going?" He gave me a toothy grin that made me chuckle.

"You better believe it!" With that we walked forward and stepped onto the fresh land across the bridge, time to get started.

We traveled across the land fighting a plethora of new enemies that seemed tougher than before; there were even a few ogres that swung at us with no luck on hitting us, we came across a cave that was home to an old woman but unfortunately she was a bit hostile with a cane.

"Back off hooligans! I may not be able to see you but you won't rob me!" I ducked quickly avoiding getting to close to her.

"Mam we're not here to hurt you." Lissa said steeping closer to the old lady than any of us dared.

"I wouldn't get to close if I were you Lissa." Kent said grabbing her shoulder to stop her.

"What's with this crony?" Gareth said hiding behind the table, "Is she mad?"

"No, she's blind." Alice said holding up a chair, "This is a pointless endeavor."

"Where's my crystal? I can't see without my crystal!" She said continuing to swing.

"Crystal?" So she needed a crystal to see?

"It was probably you hooligans who took it!" She kept swinging as we backed out of the door and exited the cave.

"Can we never go back there?" Gareth asked exhausted from being hit with a cane.

"We might have to come back when we get her crystal." I replied thinking about the situation.

"I don't want to get hit again." Alice said rubbing her head, "That old lady can hit hard."

"Well hopefully we won't have to go back there for a while." I said trying to reassure them.

Once we had our bearings we headed for the nearby town of Pravoka and eventually came upon it to find the town emptier than most port towns should be; the buildings were boarded up and the town square was barren, devoid of people…wait, who's that? When I looked again I saw a man standing at the far end looking around scared; we approached him and he jumped before breathing a sigh of relief.

"Oh good, you're not pirates." He said calming down.

"Pirates? There are pirates here?" Alice asked confused.

"They showed up a few days ago and just took over the town, all they do is spend time at the bar and raid the shops for equipment." Sounds like a pretty big problem for quite a few people.

"Well guys looks like were taking out pirates."

"Well guys looks like were taking out pirates." I looked over to see me and Kent had said exactly the same thing causing Gareth to laugh uproariously.

"Looks like you two are exactly the same after all." He said continuing to laugh at us; we both went silent for a minute before Kent gave a slight couch to catch our attention.

"Anyway, we should take care of the pirate problem that seems to be ruining this town; we're going to need to split up to get rid of all of them though." He pointed to Gareth and Lissa, "You two will take care of the west side of town while Soren and I will take the east side."

"What about me?" Alice asked a little insulted by not being grouped.

"I want you to check the inn and take out any of the pirates that are there, hopefully there shouldn't be too many there." Kent responded.

"I can do that." Alice replied.

"All right everyone let's get started."

 **Gareth**

Lissa and I entered the armor shop to see about three pirates roughing up the shop; not for long though.

"Hey pirates!" They turned around to face me, "How about taking on a challenge instead of acting like worthless thieves?" They pulled out scimitars and began to approach us; I pulled out my hammer and we ran out of the shop to give us more room to fight, "Hey Lissa, do you have a weapon?" She looked around for something to use before picking up a sickle from the ground and moving into a battle stance, "You sure you can use that?"

"I don't think we can worry about that right now." Lissa said pointing to the side where two other pirates were approaching; looks like I was louder than I thought I was, now we're surrounded by five pirates, "Stay near me, if you get injured I can heal you." Good, with this hammer I was going to have trouble landing good blows. I kept moving from side to side as pirates rushed and I knocked them back with my hammer as more rushed in, behind me I could see Lissa swiping at pirates with ease with her sickle finding no trouble at dodging and slicing at them without any trouble. Meanwhile I was getting hit left and right as pirates learned to back-up when I started to swing at them and then leap at me on the end of the swing catching me off guard, "Heal!" Lissa rejuvenated me and I stood back up, "Switch enemies!" We quickly swapped places and I finished off the pirates who had not learned how to avoid my hammer while Lissa did the same with the other batch.

"That was awesome! How did you know to do that?" I asked amazed at her quick thinking.

"Well we both focused on certain enemies who soon learned our pattern of attack so when we switch they now have to learn new attack patterns but we can take them out in that time." She replied.

"Cool, I'll have to remember that." I replied honestly eager to use that.

"…Hey, why do you trust me?" She asked causing me to stop, "I mean…I was an enemy before and you don't seem skeptical of me, why?" Seemed like a simple answer.

"Well, I don't personally find a problem with you, there was never a moment that made me hate you so that makes it kind of hard to distrust you…besides, you saved Soren, that's worth giving you the benefit of the doubt."

"Well…thanks." She gave me a smile and I felt my heart skip a beat…she was sweet.

 **Soren**

I surveyed the east area of the town with Kent as he kept glancing at me every few seconds; he obviously had a problem with me looking exactly like him and I could feel his distrust, this was not going to be an easy jump to hurdle.

"Something wrong?" I asked catching him off guard.

"It's just…you look EXACTLY like me, it's kind of weird and strange to meet someone who looks like you in every way. Your eye color, voice, hair, everything looks spot on." He was right about that, it was like looking into a mirror when I stared him in the eye; no matter how many times I looked at him I couldn't shake the weirdness of the situation.

"Let's come back to this later, we have pirates to take care of." We entered the nearby black magic shop and saw two pirates harassing the store clerk; giving each other a nod we snuck up behind them and took them out quietly before they alerted the other pirates in the area, I took a quick look as he took out the other pirate to see he had done the same maneuver to knock him out as I did. After a few other shops we rounded up the knocked out pirates and tied them up, as we finished up with the knot I heard something being unsheathed and turned around to see a pirate rushing at Kent while he was finishing up his knot. I moved in front and blocked the thrust jostling him giving me room to counter attack knocking the last pirate out; Kent looked behind shocked at what I had done before standing up and grabbing the pirate I took out and adding him to the group. We walked back in silence towards the square and as we approached it Kent stopped and turned to me.

"…Thanks for saving me." He then turned and continued to drag the pirates toward the square…good start I guess.

 **Alice**

I entered the inn and looked around seeing the area was dimly lit, the widows were covered and there was a single candle at the bar showing half of a giant man sitting at the bar breathing heavily; I pulled out my rapier slowly prompting him to stand up and turn to me, he wore a cocky grin showing his cavity ridden yellow teeth making me a little sick.

"It's not nice to point swords at others little lass." He said stomping over to me, "Now put that away before you hurt someone." He then gave an uproarious laugh, "As if a lass like you could hurt anyone." …what?

"Well then, let's put that to the test shall we?" I said swinging my blade around; time to show him that this 'lass' can do more than just swing weaponry around. I took a quick swipe across his cheek and he recoiled before giving me an angry look.

"Time to teach you a lesson!" He swung down with a large cleaver and I slid to the side and slashed at him across the arm making him drop the weapon; he then brought his fist down and I jumped backwards out of the inn and ran towards the nearby square leading him. As soon as we were out I moved around him avoiding his attacks with ease; I was too fast for him to hit and it made it much easier to attack him from any angle as long as I did it after he attacked.

"That all you got?" I taunted making him flail from side to side trying to stop me from countering but it made it easier to swipe his feet out from under him and knock him down and stop him from attacking, "Looks like that's it from you." I gave him a sly grin and giggled as he had a scared and defeated look on his face; too easy. As I tied him up the rest of the group came back to the plaza surprised at my capture.

"Nice! I wish I had taken the inn." Gareth said jealous at the giant I had fought.

"He didn't stand a chance did he?" Soren said poking him.

"Nope. Barely a challenge." I responded dusting off my hands.

"Good job." The succubus said shyly with a thumbs up and small smile…whatever. I jumped off the giant pirate and heard him groan as the town guards gathered up the pirates and took them away; as he was dragged off a piece of paper fell off the large pirate, when I picked it up I saw it was the title deed to a ship.

"Hey guys." I said catching everyone's attention, "We have a ship now."

 **Soren**

After grabbing some new equipment and magic we left the town and boarded our new ship; it was well taken care of and looked sparkling and new with waxed wood and plenty of food under deck, we all looked around and Kent went to the ship helm checking the steering and sails.

"This ship is put together well, whatever those pirates were about at least they had there ship well maintained." He was right about that, even the lower deck was scrubbed and clean leaving no wood rot or termites to be found, wherever we needed to go this ship could get us there without falling apart. Underneath we found holes with large ores sticking out; without the wind we would have to use these to get across the sea.

"So one of us is going to be the land spotter while the rest paddle?" Lissa asked.

"Looks like it, this won't be easy." I replied with a sigh; after an intense round of rock-paper-scissors it ended up with me, Alice, Gareth and Kent paddling with Lissa as lookout.

"I'm not sure Lissa should be look out." Alice said scowling, "Can we even trust her?" Alice…

"She's our teammate; we have to give her a chance at least." I said trying to convince her.

"Maybe I don't want to give her a chance!" Alice yelled before stomping away…guess it's time to talk to her.

I headed over to Alice to see her hocking stones into the sea with all her might; as I approached she didn't even stop obviously trying to ignore me; the next stone was thrown far enough it almost went out of view.

"I know what you're going to say." She said putting her head down, "You're going to say I should at least try to trust her…but I can't. Even seeing her so different now I can't just forget what she tried to do to us. She almost killed us numerous times and almost turned you into her slave…even if our trust wasn't that stable it still hurts to think that I almost lost my best friend because of her." She turned around and gave me an angry look, "How can you trust her though? After everything she did to us you still want to give her a chance? Do you not care about what happened to us? What happened to me!?" How could she say that?

"Of course I do! Alice, you're my best friend, had this been a different situation I wouldn't have given a second thought, I would have left her there and that would have been it."

"Then why!? Why do you trust her? What does she have that makes you trust her?"

"Do you remember when I turned into Jarek and it felt like you were looking at someone else completely? When I saw her in the mushroom kingdom that's what I felt; from when we met her in Hyrule to the Mushroom Kingdom it was like I was looking at a completely different person with the same face." She gave me a confused look, "Think about her difference in emotional standards from Hyrule to the Mushroom kingdom." She went into a thoughtful silence and I watched as her face went from deep thought to surprise.

"But…how did…I missed that?" Alice said starting to freak out. I quickly grabbed her arms bringing her attention back to me.

"You were blinded by what she did, I understand why you didn't notice…but please…now that you see what I was talking about, give her a chance, for my sake." She went silent for a minute and took a deep breath before backing up and wiping her eyes.

"Okay…I'll try, I don't know if I can forget what she has done…but for you and the different Lissa…I'll try." After calming Alice down we went back below deck and Alice gave an apology to Lissa surprising Gareth and Lissa; she accepted it and I could feel the tension between Alice and Lissa take a sizable decrease. With that out of the way we all took up our post and began our journey across the sea to the elf kingdom that Kent directed us to; with a slight increase in trust hopefully this journey would get easier and our team would become stronger with the upcoming fights we would need to work together on…I had a feeling that it would work out though; hopefully I'm right.


	5. Chapter 5

Forward, back, forward, back, forward, back; I continued rowing the oar as we traveled along the sea towards the land of the elves with every push and pull of the oars, we had been doing this for a few hours and Lissa hadn't seen any sign of land so far which meant we just had to keep rowing until we saw something.

"My arms are going to fall off, can we take a break?" Gareth asked in between heavy breaths, I looked at Kent and Alice to see they were exhausted and turning a new shade of red that probably wasn't healthy.

"Okay, let's take a few minutes to recover and then get moving again." I let go of the oar and watched as Gareth pushed his oar away while Alice and Kent let go letting their hands slide down the handle and collapse to their sides.

"Owwww." Alice groaned loudly as she sat there trying to get the feeling back in her arms; I looked down at my hands and flexed them feeling my fingers clamp up and make it harder for me to actually bend my finger and I felt my arms finally give out falling to my side, "Looks like someone needs an ice pack." Alice said teasing me…or not, my arms were a bright red that seemed almost medically wrong; Alice stood up and put her hands around one of my arms and I felt it cool down, "I found and ice spell in Pravoka, just have to make sure I don't frost bite your arm." She did the same to my other arm and I felt the burning feeling in my arms go away, now replaced with a small chill that was slightly numbing.

"Thanks, that helps a lot." I replied and she gave a smug smile.

"Well it's no problem, just an ice spell."

"Mind doing the same for us?" Gareth asked pointing to himself and Kent who both looked exhausted.

"Sure, but be careful, I don't know if I have full control over this spell." What!?

"And you used it on me!?"

"I needed a Guinee pig." She replied with a smile, she's a little scary sometimes.

Once we were cooled down we headed up deck to see different dead creatures on the hull with Lissa exhausted in the center; did she take all of these monsters down? When she noticed we were there she stood up straight and took a deep breath before coming over with a nervous smile.

"Did you take all these guys on your own?" I asked and she looked around for a minute before laughing nervously.

"Yeah…I didn't want to bother you guys so I just did it myself and they were a bit overwhelming but I was able to stay up with my white magic." As she said that we looked around and everybody was some sort of water monster and all grouped in different sections with some over lapping others; but to think that Lissa took out all these people on her own is pretty amazing, I looked at her hand to see she had the sickle from Pravoka in her hand slightly chipped and a bit rusty.

"Was that your weapon?" I pointed to the sickle in her hand.

"Yeah, it was a bit difficult to use but I made use of it the best I could." She said scratching the back of her head with a red embarrassed blush on her cheeks.

"That's awesome! It's too bad I missed out!" Gareth said looking over the vanquished enemies as Kent scrapped them off the boat.

"You're swabbing the deck clean when we hit land!" Kent said to Lissa pissed at the amount of seawater and blood coating the wood of the boat.

"Fair enough." Lissa replied with a sigh, "I suppose that's what I get for making such a mess." Looking over Lissa she was covered in monster blood making her long red hair turn slightly brown and her face look dirty, she needed to clean up. I looked away feeling my vision begin to blur as I stared at her, "Something wrong Soren?"

"No…I'm fine."

"…Nice job." I turned my head quickly as I heard Alice give Lissa a compliment but then bashfully look away avoiding eye contact with both of us as she turned red…it was working!

"Well…thank you Alice." Lissa said bowing and as Alice looked back she gave a nod and then walked away; as Alice went back down a chuckled and Lissa tapped me on the shoulder, "I'm guessing you convinced her?"

"I got her started but everything from when I talked to her was her doing, she's trying and I'm glad about that." She giggled after I said that.

"Well then I'm going to have to try hard to then right?"

"That's right; just be careful, she might hit you if you're not too careful." She cocked her head and sighed.

"I…think that's just you Soren."

A few hours later we landed in the elven kingdom right next to the capital city; it reminded me of Cornelia with how it had a town surrounding the castle but with the town being smaller and not as vibrant; it was hard to see from the boat but the town was definitely smaller than Pravoka or Cornelia.

"That's Elfheim, the city you have to go to before you can get to the Elven Castle, the problem is that elves aren't very friendly to humans so getting an audience with the king would be kind of…"

"Impossible." Alice cut in to Kent's explanation.

"Precisely."

"What if we just dress up as elves?" Gareth suggested.

"We will be executed if found out." Kent replied.

"Damn, well it was a good adventure."

"What else can we do then?" Lissa asked.

"We could check the town for some way in, there has to be a way to see the king." …Thinking about it I don't know why I haven't asked this question yet.

"Why do we need to see the king?" I asked Kent, "We've kind of been following your lead and I don't know what we're doing for the life of me."

"That's true." Alice said grabbing Kent by his shirt, "This better not be a waste of time!"

"No, of course it's not!" Kent said panicking before being put down, "The Elven King has an item known as the Mystic key, and because of the bad relations between the elves and humans some of the doors in the Cornelia castle can't be opened without the key; behind one of those doors is nitro powder. Once we obtain the nitro powder we can destroy a mountainside in order to give us access to the other side of the world where the four orbs are. So we need to see the king to get the key to get the nitro powder so we can blow up the mountainside to travel to the four orbs in order to save the world." When he finished that he bent over to catch his breath as we all took in our situation.

"What the hell! Can't we just climb over it? This is insane! Who wrote this dreck of tediousness!?" Alice blurted pissed off at what she had heard.

"The makers of Final Fantasy." Gareth responded, "I kind of like it, makes the end goal worth i."

"Really?" Lissa asked and he gave a shrug.

"Well now I know who I have to kill for this." Alice said cracking her knuckles.

"No! You can't kill the creators of Final Fantasy." I said trying to calm her down.

"Don't be silly." Alice replied pulling out her rapier, "I'll torture them before I kill them." She obviously wasn't a fan of RPGs.

Once everything was settled Gareth, Alice, Kent and I headed into Elfheim while Lissa stayed back to swab the deck clean of the blood and get herself clean; as we entered the town it was very small and didn't have a lot of people outside, those who were outside gave us glares and looks as we passed through the area. Everyone we passed seemed to be skeptical of the four of us making me wonder what the humans could have done to piss of the elves; we tried heading to the inn but found no one who would let us in or anyone who would sell anything to us.

"I hate this town." Gareth said looking pissed, "Don't I get enough stares back home when I enter stores! Now here?" Race will never stop being a touchy subjects and this world isn't helping the issue.

"At least it's because you're human and not because you're black." Alice said yawning.

"I'm not sure what's better about that."

"It's better because I'm as pissed off as you." I looked over and she looked more tired than pissed off at the situation.

"You sure Alice, you look like you're about to collapse." I asked.

"I've been rowing for hours and using magic, I could collapse for a few hours right now." She replied becoming more sluggish with each step; she kept bobbing her head up and down as her eyes drifted open and closed, maybe she should head back to the ship.

"You can head back and rest if you want."

"I'm fine; I just need a few minutes to catch myself." Alice replied sitting under a tree and closing her eyes; guess she was out for a bit.

"I'll stay with her, another person gives me a glare as we pass and I might just sock them." Gareth said sitting down next to her and pulling out the small lute Alice got from Princess Sarah; guess this was as good a time as any. Kent and I tried every shop and bar we could find looking for someone who could help us out and ending up in the small square of the town where a group of minstrels were playing lively tunes with a few people gathering to listen. As we approached the group people started to disperse while others stayed to listen.

"Fair travelers, what brings you to this town of elvish origin? Humans scarcely visit these areas without reason." He spoke in…was it old Shakespearian? His band was made up of three people with a tanned woman dancer with bright blond hair tied in long pigtails to his left with a big goofy grin while to his right was a stoic man holding a tambourine and black straight cut hair with gentle eyes that when you looked straight at them made his giant body very misleading while in the center was a man wearing a tattered hat that covered most of his head and ragged clothes that fit his minstrel life style…and body odor; he held a guitar in his hand and had a big grin that wasn't as goofy as the girls and hinted that he was wise.

"We were hoping to meet with the king of these lands and ask him for the Mythical key that can open mystical doors around the world. Unfortunately no one seems to be speaking with us making finding any info impossible." Kent explained and the girl snickered.

"Looks like someone hasn't heard the news, what do you think Jon?" The large man gave a nod and pointed to the small bucket in front of them; it didn't take a degree in quantum physics to figure out what to do, I put a handful of coins into the bucket and the man tipped his hat to us revealing his shaggy brown hair and then put his hat back on before stringing up his guitar as Jon pulled out a tambourine and the woman began to dance.

"The land has darkened and shadows creep,

People panic soon the reaper shall reap.

In this time a prince stayed strong,

No one knew that things would go wrong.

The dark elf Astos broke into the castle,

And bringing a curse he caused quite a hassle.

The prince was cursed into eternal slumber,

And for the poor elves they'd never felt dumber.

Dark elves and human were on the same page,

So when Astos invaded it stirred up great rage.

Elves trust no outsiders and shun those who visit,

So I'm sorry to say that if you wanted to go in then I'm sorry you missed it.

Until the prince has recovered from slumber,

No one outside shall be allowed to enter." We gave a small clap and they stopped playing and gave a small bow, "Thank you, now while you can' get in now, I do know how you can get in."

"Really? How?" I asked excited to advance.

"The blind witch Matoya can make the herb to wake the young prince but she is missing her crystal that she needs to see."

"She sees…with a crystal?" Don't tell me she's the old lady in the cave who left a bruise on my head, "Where is this crystal?"

"We don't know." He responded, "But I hear that you can find a lead to the west of here at the ruined castle." Good, we have an idea of where to head now, that should help our quest; I out another 200 gold into the cup as thanks and Kent and I walked back to Alice and Gareth, when we approached them I could hear a lute being played poorly as Alice rose from her short nap under the tree.

"So…did you find anything?" Alice said stretching as she stood up.

"We're headed west to find a witches seeing glass." Kent answered as Gareth put the lute away.

"Not the old lady from the cave right?"

"I choose not to answer."

"Crap, well then, let's get going then." When Alice was stretched out we headed for the exit of town but as we left I heard a high pitch whistle and turned around to see the dancer waving for me; she ran over and put a small satchel into my hand pushing it in almost taking me off my feet; she had a lot of energy, being a dancer was definitely her best career choice.

"Danny wanted you to have this; he said you'll need this soon where you're going. By the way, my name is Jessie." She gave me a wink before running off with a skip in her step; I opened the bag to see she had handed me a green powder, it had no scent and it didn't look like a spice so I was a bit confused on what it was.

"Soren?" I looked behind me to see Alice giving me a very angry look, "Getting gifts from girls? Every time I take my eyes off you you're wasting time with other girls!"

"It's not like that at all!" What had her so pissed!?

We went back to the ship to see it was spotless and clean thanks to Lissa and grabbed her so we could all go to the ruined elven castle to the west; along the way we dealt with a few ogres and tarantulas and even an ogre chief with only a few problems arising such as being overwhelmed or overpowered. We came upon a castle to the west that was disheveled and falling apart, walls and pillars were covered in green moss and over grown vines; inside were a few roaming bats as well as some undead ghasts and wraiths making our walk to the throne room a bit more treacherous. When we entered the doorway an elven man was sitting in the crumbling throne, as we approached him he gave a jolt of surprise then calmed as we came closer to him.

"Welcome to my throne room humans, I would offer you a place to stay but my castle has been ravaged by the dwellers of the marsh cave, they stole my crown and left me to die in this throne." He began to sob, "I wish to aid you in your troubles but without my crown I am afraid I cannot even answer your questions until my crown is returned. If you would please, can you retrieve my crown from the marsh cave, you will be greatly rewarded."

"Rewarded you say?" Gareth said pushing forward, "What kind of reward?"

"Really Gareth, treasure?" I asked crossing my arms, "Aren't you supposed to be noble and a hero?"

"Treasure is the bread and butter of any hero." Gareth said unashamed, "Besides, we need the cash don't we?"

"Did they even say we were getting cash?" Lissa asked and Alice sighed.

"Have I not dealt with enough stupidity today?" Alice grabbed my and Gareth's ear and dragged us out, "We're headed to the marsh cave to grab the crown and then we're finding out where the orb is, no treasure and no ogling girls, got it?" She pulled our ears with all her might and I felt like it was going to tear apart from her sharp finger.

"I didn't ogle girls!" I said trying to defend myself, after I said that she pulled harder and I could actually hear my pain.

"GOT IT!?"

"Crystal clear." I and Gareth said in unison and she dropped us to the castle floor before walking away; why am I being punished for being given something? We moved to the marshes and found a small opening in the marsh leading down into a dank cave opening; when we entered the scent of mildew and cave moss seemed to envelop us.

"It smells like a disheveled basement." Lissa said plugging her nose.

"The only thing missing is the smell of alcohol." I added and I looked back to see Lissa put her head down sadly…must have struck a cord with her. As we traveled down the cave the monsters became more frequent and seemed to increase in strength.

"What's with these things? It's like Gauntlet down here. Every one we take out another five pop up." Gareth said swinging his battle axe of the monster blood; he was right though, every time we take out one group even more show up in droves.

"All right then, plan B." I called for everyone to the ladder and we rushed through the enemies avoiding long confrontations and just taking out the ones in the way until we came upon the third floor which seemed emptier. We moved slowly through the rooms collecting what we could find and occasionally I could hear a weird slithering sound around me as I walked.

"Soren." Gareth called me over and inside the last room was an alter with a crown sitting on a pedestal, "I think I found the crown." As I tried to pick it up Alice stopped me.

"It could be booby trapped…Kent grab it." Alice said pushing Kent in front shocking him.

"Fine." He slowly approached the alter and grabbed the crown and as he did that I could hear the door behind us open; I quickly unsheathed my sword and turned to see men enter the place…wait…those aren't men! They had bodies like men but their faces were covered in tentacles and were more squid than man, "Guys!" We turned around towards Kent to see the statues around the alter turn into the squid men from the door way.

"There are too many of them!" Lissa said backing into the group as we converged in the middle of them all; I slashed horizontally at two of them and it cut into them creating a gash in their robes, as they recoiled in pain their wounds recovered leaving no mark where I hit them.

"They regenerate!?"

"We can't fight them and win!" Alice said swiping them away, "We need a different strategy and quick." We can't get rid of them normally and I'm guessing any other form of marking them wouldn't work; if we could immobilize them then it would be easier…or freeze them!

"Alice, how good are you with the ice spell."

"It's not strong enough on its own to freeze these guys on its own. If we could make the spell go off inside them then it might work."

"What if you coated the weapon in the spell?"

"Once it makes contact the spell goes off, it would have to be a two weapon system. Make an opening then plunge the weapon on the inside folds." I pulled out the broadsword I picked up on the second basement level and held it out to Alice.

"Let me try."

"Don't die." She put her hand on the blade and I saw a small cold aura surround the blade; guess this was a good time for real battle practice, right now six of them were surrounding us so I had to be quick. Starting with the ones in front of me I slashed down the chest of one with my left blade and quickly thrust with my right blade into the opening; I repeated this in a circle feeling my energy drain quicker because I was using two blades at once and the tension didn't help my heart rate go down. When I finally stabbed the sixth one I pulled the blade out and watched as it became enveloped in ice from the chest to the rest of the body; good, it worked well. I dropped the swords and panted on my hands and knees feeling both my body and mind drained by using magic and dual blades at the same time, the room began to spin as my mind tried to re-center.

"Are you okay?" Lissa asked bending over to check on me.

"Yeah…just a little drained from using magic." I responded, "Also the weird blood isn't helping." I was covered in the different blood of the creatures I had hacked up and frozen, as I looked at it I felt my vision blur more making me have to look away and feel like puking.

"Are you hemophobic?"

"No, honestly I hadn't had this problem until a few months before I met Alice, anytime I look at blood for too long time my brain starts to freak out…it's weird but I've learned to adapt." Taking a deep breath I walked out of the room and we all headed back to the surface to give the king back his crown; with his help we could find the crystal and get the herb to save the elf prince.

"I looked at the others to see they had suffered the same fate and were covered in blood making me a bit quesy; from the glances I got it seemed like this blood was a shade of purple rather than the human red…monsters must have different colored blood, good to know. When we came upon the castle we headed straight for the throne room where the king was still sitting on his throne but with a beaming expression rather than the bleak one from earlier.

"You found my crown! Thank you brave warriors for your help, with this and Matoya's eye-" Wait…

"You have Matoya's eye?" He seemed caught off guard and then returned to his regal self.

"Please hand over the crown, I will reward you once I have it." …

"Give it to him Soren." Gareth said nudging me, "That's why we went into that cave."

"Something doesn't seem right." Kent said pulling his sword out, "I feel an evil presence." I quickly shoved the crown back into my bag and the kings expression seemed to shift to a darker tone.

"I can't rule without that crown, and I can't reward you without it. So please hand over the crown boy." This is definitely not right.

"What the hell just happened?" Alice said shifting her hand to her sheathed blade, "The tension in the air became heavier." Gareth and Lissa did the same feeling the same thing me and Kent felt.

"It's just your imagination…now…hand over the crown." Like hell I'm going to. I grabbed the powder I got from Jessie and threw a handful at the king; suddenly his skin seemed to melt away revealing a strange creature in his place. So Danny knew this wasn't the king…he gave us the powder to reveal him but why?

"All right who are you?" Kent said pointing his blade at him; the creature cackled maniacally and then gave us a gleaming eye.

"I'm the dark elf king Astos who cursed the prince, with that crown I can take over the elven kingdom with ease but now I have to kill you, shame you didn't just hand me the crown and be on your way. Now you have to die!" He rushed at me and Lissa with blinding speed and socked us sending me backwards and Lissa to the left; stomping my boots into the ground I stopped before I hit the wall and stood up feeling like I got hit with a ton of bricks in the head. Alice swooped in behind and struck him along the back as Gareth hit him in the gut with his hilt; he fell to the ground and Kent plunged his blade into Astos back, he laughed as he stood up and flailed knocking the three away from him, "You're going to have to do better than that!" He began to chant and suddenly a bolt of lightning traveled along the ground hitting Alice and sending her against the door.

"Alice!" I drew my blade and rushed him taking a swing at his abdomen but he grabbed the blade and lifted it and me throwing us away and shooting a fire ball at me; moving quickly I swiped at it dispersing the flames and fell to the ground on my back; I'm going to feel that later. As I stood up I saw Gareth taking what swings he could but Astos danced around him like a mad jester before socking him in the face and shooting an ice spell freezing him in place.

"Gareth!" Damn, he was much tougher than I expected; he was knocking around three of us without any effort.

"Any plans?" Alice asked limping to me, I looked back to see Lissa was having more luck than us; instead of attacking him she was letting him attack her and dodging his attacks while retaliating with minor moves with her sickle weapon, there were small cuts around Astos body that I had to guess Lissa had caused.

"One, follow my lead." I moved behind Astos and as he turned to hit me I ducked out leaving him wide open, "Lissa, now!" She gave me a nod and then stuck her sickle directly in his back making him turn to grab it, "Alice, go for it!" Alice rushed in and shoved her rapier as far as she could into his chest making it stick out in his back next to Lissa's sickle.

"Gah! You brat!" He swung at me as I blocked with my blade and pulled my second blade out slicing into his face leaving it stuck there, "Ahhhh!" He shrieked and flailed as all these weapons were stuck in him and I looked behind me to see Gareth and Kent coming up to finish the job; we all moved as Kent swung cutting his torso from his legs and Gareth swung removing his head from his torso. The dark elf king fell into three parts as his purple blood pooled out; guess he was more monster than man in the end.

We each took a long sigh feeling the intense pain course through us, that was not an easy or even normal fight; Lissa and I went around healing the group with her healing me, Alice and Kent and me healing Gareth and then feeling lightheaded; I may be able to use it but magic takes a lot more out of me then Alice or Lissa. I searched the remains of Astos to find the crystal that Matoya uses to see, she was going to need this back.

"We go the crystal eye." I announced and everyone gave a half-hearted cheer rubbing their sore muscles; guess we have to head back to the witch now…crap!

"Also…this means were going to have to sail across the sea again." Everyone groaned and gave different responses with Alice's ringing loudest.

"I hate RPGs!"


	6. Chapter 6

The sun was beginning to set as we took the long walk through the meadows and mountains from Pravoka to Matoya's cave; with the crystal now in our possession we could return it to her and she could fix us the medicine to wake up the prince of elves…provided we could even get in to give him the medicine with how elves treated humans.

"I don't want to go back in there." Alice said still complaining.

"Seconded." Gareth added in, "Her cane is really dangerous."

"Yeah and I'd rather not be called a hooligan by her again." Lissa said giving a tired sigh.

"You guys really don't like her do you?" Kent asked looking at the three of them as I tossed the crystal between my hands, "Don't do that!" He swiped it from my hand and stuffed it into his bag, "What if it breaks?"

"Fine, what's with you three anyway? Are you that afraid of old ladies?"

"Have you ever had a grandma that only pinched your cheeks?" Alice said rubbing her cheeks, "Whenever I think of her it burns, she really leaves a mental mark."

"I've volunteered at enough senior centers to get the smell into my senses and that cave smells exactly like a senior center." Gareth said rubbing his nose.

"She uses words I've never heard before, I don't really know what a hooligan is but I can guess it's not a kind term." Lissa said sulking.

"I think it's from an earlier generation." I replied.

"Maybe ten earlier generations." Gareth said snickering as Alice high-fived him.

"Okay, if it makes you feel better Soren and I will enter while you three wait outside." Kent said obviously sick of the conversation we were having, "We can take care of it quickly and then keep moving." He wasn't a fan of idle chatter was he? As we came upon the cave Kent and I walked inside as Alice and the others sat down near the entrance to wait for us to come back; the interior seemed to reek more than before we entered a few hours ago and the sounds of cluttering and things falling seemed to have stopped; was Matoya okay? We rushed in with the same look of worry and entered the main room to see Matoya was sitting at her table silently breathing slowly; she was still awake because she would occasionally move her head when she heard a slight noise. I stepped up to her slowly and her ears twitched as I took each step towards her, even with my quiet steps she could still pick it up with her hearing; one more step. As I stood in front of her she looked up at me cocked her head and stared…she's a lot shorter than I thought she would be…and how is she looking at me? She's blind! As my mind wandered she swung her cane under my legs knocking me on to my butt; she rose her cane and swung it down at my stomach, rolling backwards I managed to avoid it and stood up dusting myself off.

"Trying to steal from me again!? You've got some brass ones to try to come at an old witch twice!" She started chanting as magic welled up in her hands, "Let's see how you like the black void!" Crap!

"Silence!" Waving my hand softly magic pulsated from my hand forming strange runes that surrounded Matoya stopping her spell mid-cast confusing her; I fell to my knees exhausted at using the spell…what was wrong with me? I could use both black and white magic but no matter what spell I cast when it is finished I feel like I just ran a marathon and my body was numb from the intense pain of running…only this time I was exhausted from using a small amount of magic for no reason.

"You think that stops me? You don't get as old as I do without learning a few tricks." She gracefully held up her hand, "Vox!" Another set of runes came down and landed on the silence runes shattering them to pieces as they faded away; she knew her spells…she was more dangerous than I gave her credit for. I tried to stand up but my legs gave out and I fell to the ground feeling completely drained…what was blocking my magic? I looked up to see her chanting again, "I'm done with you hooligans, especially after those nice kids warned me of you." Wait, what? Someone was here before us, "I guess I can't just use banish…time to die, Kill!"

"Stop, we have your crystal!" I yelled trying to keep my head on straight, "We got it back from Astos, here." I rolled it forward and it bumped against her foot stopping her; she bent down and picked it up putting it to her face and giving a gasp.

"Oh it is my crystal! Well then I owe you my thanks." She said completely changing her personality, "Sorry for trying to kill you dearies."

"I don't know if an apology is enough." Kent said obviously peeved at how she acted earlier, "We could use a tonic for waking a prince." As he started manipulating the old witch I felt my mind being to go hazy and the world faded from my eyes…MY TURN.

 **Alice**

As Gareth and the succubus played tic-tac-toe in the dirt I stood against the cave waiting for Soren and Kent to get back; they said they would only be about five minutes but they've been gone almost thirty minutes and it was starting to worry me. If that old lady is actually a witch than she might have some magic and powers that could be dangerous for them to go up against as they are now; I hope they're safe…! What's this feeling? Something isn't right; my heart is racing with worry and fear…and I feel like something is emerging…oh no! I dashed into the cave and broke down the door to see Soren standing tall with his sword in his right hand and Kent crouched on the ground wounded; jumping forward I pushed Soren into the ground knocking the sword out of his hand, he squirmed trying to get up as I pushed him into the stone floor. Behind me Gareth and the succubus had caught up and looked at me with surprise as I shoved Soren to the ground; no time to explain though!

"Get Kent and Matoya out of here NOW!" I demanded and they quickly moved to grab the other two as Soren started to get leverage, "Hurry!" They rushed out with those two and I felt as I was grabbed and thrown into the other end of the room; I crashed into a few pots and barrels falling into the heap feeling my back tighten in pain, I stood up slowly as he picked up the sword and swung it around brandishing it with a wicked smile.

"Smart move there girl…tell me, how did you know I was out?"

"Honestly I wasn't sure it was you but I had a hunch when I felt something emerging, my body became tense and I felt like something was wrong…and you always seem to be the cause of it Jarek!"

"You remembered my name, how touching. It won't stop me from killing you."

"I know you can't touch me, Soren will take over again if you even look at me wrong." He dashed forward and swiped at me prompting me to block with my blade; he actually swiped at me!?

"I'm sure he would…but I'm not just an emotion, I'm a personality. I learn and grow on my own and I decided that instead of just taking over at his strongest emotion it would be much simpler to exhaust him and then take over with full control. He's out and I'm in without even lifting a finger."

"How the hell did you even exhaust him?"

"I'm sure you've noticed that my other half doesn't exactly have the best grasp on magic." Ever since he's used the wand from Hyrule I've noticed he seems to become more exhausted when using magic, "That's me; he can't even use simple magic because I hold his mental strength in the palm of my hand, all I had to do is wait for him to exhaust himself. I didn't expect for it to take a simple silence spell though…apparently he's weaker than I thought."

"Shut up!" I dashed forward and took a swing at him as he blocked with his blade, "He's stronger than you will ever be."

"Foolish girl, you really think you know him?" What does he mean? In my surprise he pushed his knee into my stomach and punched me in the face as he grabbed me by my ponytail, "Have you ever heard of multiple personality disorder? It happens when someone experiences a trauma too painful for them to bear so they create a second personality that holds that experience." What was he getting at…it couldn't be…

"What…what about it?" I asked scared of the answer, he leaned in and whispered into my ear.

"Why do you think I exist inside Soren?"…it couldn't be…what else had Soren been through? Even worse…it was something he didn't know, "Doesn't matter anyway, I'm sick of you and your interference, when you die nothing can stop me." He pulled harshly on my ponytail and brushed the strands out of my hair, "I want to see the look of terror on your face when you die." He rose up his sword and pulled it back ready to thrust it through my chest; I was going to die, "It's been a pleasure girl." Soren…please! As he started the thrust I heard the crack of wood and opened my eyes to see someone had knocked a chair over his head causing him to drop the blade and let go of my pony tail, "What the hell!?" As he exclaimed I grabbed his blade and swung at him trying to slice him; wait that's Soren! In my moment of hesitation he kicked me backwards sending me into the back desk; what are you doing Alice, it's Jarek…but it's still Soren. As I got back up I looked to see…the succubus standing at the other end; she must have knocked him with the chair, "Ah, you must be here to bring me to your boss, should have let me kill her though." What? She was going to betray us!? Damnit Soren, you had to trust her and now you were going to disappear…you idiot!

"Bring him back you demon!" What? Did she just say that? I looked up to see an angry look plastered on her face.

"Oh?"

"You heard me, bring Soren back!" She pulled out her sickle and swung at him catching him off guard and leaving a mark on his chest as he stumbled.

"So you're a traitor are you? Fine, makes my job easier." He took a step forward and I felt a wave of overwhelming energy wash over me; was this his mental strength? He outstretched his hand and shot a giant ice spear at the succubus knocking her out of the room as she blocked; his magical energy was immense…all those times, that powerful pushing feeling wasn't just his pent up rage and anger, it was his power, it's more than any of us can take…I stood up clutching the blade in my hand with the remaining strength I had and he laughed, "You won't hurt me girl, I know you won't injure Soren and that makes ME untouchable, not you." Damnit…he was right…I can't attack; I dropped my blade and slumped to the ground defeated…this was my end.

"Why?" He raised his blade and brought it down in an attempt to end me; suddenly I felt someone dive in front grabbing me and launching us out of his slash radius. When I looked to see who it was it was the succubus again.

"Are you…okay?" I looked to see a large gash along her back and a large hole near her abdomen as she struggled to stay on her hands, "I don't know if that's going to heal as easily."…she saved me again.

"Why do you keep saving me? All I've done is distrust you and treat you like dirt and yet you still save me twice? I don't even call you by name and you still save me?" She gave me a smile and stumbled slightly.

"Alice, I deserve everything you've done to me, every stony glance, every moment of distrust, every second glance to see if I was going to attack. I can't make up for my past mistakes…but I'd gladly lay my life on the line for you, Gareth and Soren…after everything I've done to you…it's the least I can do." As she passed out I felt worry consume me; I didn't like her but I don't want her to die, no matter how mad I got or how untrusting of her I've been I don't want this! Wake up Succubus…please wake up Lissa!

"Touching…really, now die. Both of you!" I rolled us to the side as he slashed down and looked at him feeling panic in my heart…what could I do? I couldn't attack without hurting Soren but if I don't do something…Lissa will die! Please…someone…help!

As though to answer my prayers a voice cut through the fear and terror in my heart and shouted a powerful spell.

"STOP!" As they exclaimed that Jarek stopped in his tracks with his sword over his head as Gareth shoved a potion down his mouth with haste and we watched as he stumbled backwards passing out onto the floor with a loud thud, "Seems you kids have more to you than I thought." I looked to see Matoya over us, she picked up Lissa and set her onto the desk and set her hands out over her body, "Full-Life!" An angelic light wrapped around Lissa enveloping her and removing every wound from her body with a gentle soothing light that made me feel safe, "She will live, don't worry." That's a relief, "Cura." She pointed her spell at me and I felt my fatigue and wounds disappear; I stood up to see Gareth and Kent dragging Soren to the other side of the room, Kent pulled out a rope and started wrapping it around Soren.

"Don't do that!" I said pushing him away and removing the rope.

"He almost killed me!" Kent said with anger in his voice, "I'm not going to let him just wake up to do it again."

"It wasn't Soren! He wouldn't do that."

"You saw him do that to you and Lissa, are you deranged!?"

"IT WASN'T SOREN!" I shouted making everyone stop for a moment, "It was the other, Jarek."

"Jarek?"

"Another side of our friend Soren." Gareth explained, "He use to only come out during moments of intense rage but he seemed to get out this time without it."

"So that thing was another part of Soren? And he's your leader!? Have you all lost your mind!?" Kent was fuming at how we trusted Soren even after knowing this…but he didn't know Soren like we did, Soren and Jarek were two different people to me and Gareth…and even Lissa. As far as the three of us were concerned, we trusted Soren while Jarek was someone we couldn't even give the chance; even if it got me killed I would never stop trusting Soren.

"We're not going to stop trusting Soren just because of this! He's thrown himself in danger for us so we can't even consider him to be the same as Jarek!" Gareth yelled getting defensive, he felt the same way I did obviously, "You want to be skeptical of him fine but don't think for a second that we're going to turn on him…because he sure as hell wouldn't turn on us!" Kent gave a sigh.

"Fine…but if it happens again then I can't be held responsible for what happens to him." With that Kent stormed out of the cave still angry as we all stood there waiting for Lissa and Soren to wake up...if it happens again…could I even attack Jarek?

 **Soren**

I was sitting in the darkness as I woke up; everywhere I turned it was an endless abys that led into the deepest darkness; was this a dream? (Don't think so Soren) Who said that!? (Oh I think we know each other quiet well. After all your friends the girl and the idiot seem to be familiar with me.) Jarek! (Good job, now onto more pressing business.) You're not getting my body! (You think I can't take it myself, while you were sitting here unconscious I was able to do as I please because of your weak mind and my plan.) What are you talking about? (See for yourself.) A large screen popped into existence in front of me showing a point of view of Matoyas' cave; I cut Kent down and stood over him as he reeled in pain…was this me!? (Well it was me to be exact but that is your body.) Every image after that horrified me to no end; I kicked and punched Alice, even grabbed her hair and slashed at her. Luckily I missed but that look of terror on her face made me sick inside and when I saw that icicle impale Lissa I vomited onto the black floor I was standing on feeling everything inside me toss and turn in disgust…the worst was the look of pure fear and terror that Alice had as I stood over her and the injured Lissa.

"STOP!" I shouted and the screen went black as I collapsed to the ground in disgust, terror and fear…of myself. (Your weakness caused this to happen.) Shut up. (All because you can't keep me in.) Shut up! (Your weakness will lead to your friends' death…and all by your hands.) SHUT UP! (You will always be weak and one day I will take your body and bathe in the feeling of strength and power you shun. Remember that.)

I woke up against the wall and saw Gareth and Alice looking at me with relieved smiles on their face; to the other end of the room Lissa was beginning to stir from the table and stood up shakily as she stepped towards us.

"You're awake, thank goodness." She said with a sigh.

"And you're yourself again; I could do without Jarek around." Gareth said chuckling to break the tension.

"Are you okay? You look…" Alice looked at me with worry on her face and I stood there stone faced as a tear rolled down my face…they could all die…because of me, because I'm too weak to keep him in. As that thought circled in my head I cried into my arms; I cried for a good hour as the thought of the people I cared about dying because of me continued to consume my thoughts; I don't ever want to kill them, I don't want them to die, I want to be there to protect them from the dangers they face and be there to help them…but the biggest danger they faced…was me.

Once I was done we grabbed the tonic from Matoya and thanked her for all her help as we left the cave to meet up with Kent who gave me a skeptical and distrustful glare…I deserved it though; after what happened I deserved it. The sun was low in the sky so we all decided to camp out for the night and set up a fire and tents for the night; we cleared the area of any prowling monsters to make sure we could get some rest and set up watches to keep us safe. I took the last watch and got what rest I could as I tossed and turned afraid to sleep; he might reemerge while I sleep, once my watch came around I quickly packed up my supplies ready to head out. It was too dangerous for me to be around anyone I cared about; at any moment Jarek could take over and kill them all, I was lucky Matoya saved them but I can't rely on that luck to kick in a second time…I had to go, before I hurt them again.

"Where you going?" I turned around to see Alice standing there giving me her usual unsatisfied glare, "Trying to run away on your own are you?"

"…Maybe." I replied quietly.

"You're being reckless again. Jumping into danger without thinking." There was a silence between us for a full minute as we stood there. Me looking into the horizon and her looking at me, "I'm starting to get along with Lissa, you really want to miss out on that?" I gave no response, "If you think I'm going to let you leave, you've got another thing coming you idiot!" I stopped her hand from bonking me on the head stunning her as I looked her in the eye, "…Don't leave."

"I almost killed you Alice."

"No, Jarek almost killed me."

"There's no difference!" She backed up afraid as I raised my voice, "Me and Jarek are the same person! Everything he does I'm responsible for and I can't hurt you guys again…I just…can't. He's stronger than he was when he came out the first time…and he's smarter than then to, the fact is I can't control him forever because one day…one day he's going to take control and I'll never be Soren again." Another long silence accompanied that line as the wind blew around us, "I can't be around you when that happens…so I have to leave…and either die or live in solitude forever."

"I won't let you."

"Alice, you can't-"

"Yes I can!" She shouted, "I refuse to let you be alone, that's what we were before all this happened. Before Hyrule we were just two people who lived sad solitary lives and now…now I can't let you go! Soren…this isn't you, your like when I first met you; unsure and ready to just curl up and die. I want the Soren that is always ready to throw himself into danger for his friends…but doesn't abandon them either; the Soren that takes the big moves with those he cares about by his side and if there's no difference in the matter than there is no difference here either. I'm not leaving you because you would never leave us, you would never leave me." She wrapped her hands around me pressing her body into my back gripping me tightly…she really didn't want me to go, "Please don't go…because without us, you can't come back. As long as we're with you we will always pull you out of Jarek and back to us; so promise me you'll never leave us."…My brain says leave…but my heart says stay…

"…I promise." With that she gripped tighter and I could hear a muffled thank you as we stood there as the sun rose into the sky; she was right, she always is. Without these guys I might have been stuck as Jarek from my first turn…without them…he won. To protect them from him I had to trust them to protect me…that's something I could try to do…I hope.


	7. Chapter 7

The morning broke through as we all packed up and headed back to our ship in Pravoka hastily, we had to deliver the tonic for the prince of the elves as quickly as possible so we didn't waste more time than we already have on this fetch quest; as we moved I could feel the animosity and distrust off of Kent as we moved and fought creatures, it was weird that someone who looked like me was distrustful of me…I couldn't blame him though after all I didn't even trust myself. Once we were onboard another game of rock-paper-scissors dictated who was lookout leaving Gareth on lookout while the rest of us paddled the boat in silence, no one was in the mood for small talk even when Gareth tried to break the tension. He always hated any awkward situations that the group had; even back when it was just the three of us and Alice was in a particularly bad mood he would always try to change the subject to keep the group stable; it worked most of the time but I don't think it was going to work in this situation. Landing back at the elven boarder we all left the boat and headed for the castle; when we approached the gate two guards put their spears over the gateway barring us from entry and giving us icy stares as we stood there.

"No one is allowed to enter, especially humans." The left guard said as he looked over our entire group. I pulled out the crown and held it out to them and they gave a sharp gasp, "The elven crown!" They looked at each other and back to us multiple times trying to decide what to do with us and how to go about the situation they weren't prepared for; they left us at the gate and we all stood there confused at what was going to happen. We stood there for about five minutes and Kent suddenly moved in front of me swiping the crown.

"I'm taking lead for a while, you stay in the back." He said giving me a harsh frown.

"What do you think you're doing Kent?" Gareth said harshly, "We explained-"

"I don't care what you guys say, right now I barely trust any of you, especially my doppelganger over here, now back up Soren, NOW!" He had the demanding voice of a leader and I could feel as everyone's courage was snuffed making everyone go quiet, "As far as I'm concerned the only people I trust are the warriors of light so until we find them you all might as well be extras." It was very quiet as we waited for the guards to come back and after about ten minutes they finally returned.

"Please enter and head for the prince's room to the left." Stepping aside we all entered and headed for the princes room as we looked around the castle; it was regal interior but it had a natural feeling from the carpet to the tapestry and stone work, the elves must really be connected to nature if their castle can feel like a forest. We opened the door to see an elven maid sitting next to the bed with a worried expression on her face and in the bed was a regal looking and important young man sleeping peacefully in the bed; something was off about his expression though…it had a sense of longing and wait.

"You must be the warriors of light, please; you must help the prince wake from his slumber. He has been asleep for months now and we've had no way of waking him…but if you found the crown of our kingdom then surely you have a way to wake the prince and save our land from the despair it has been engulfed in." So the prince has been sleeping for a while; it won't be easy when he wakes up, his legs are going to need some therapy so he can move on them again…his whole body is going to be hard to move for a while, Astos may not have won but he definitely took quite a few years off of the princes life.

"We have a tonic that can cure his ailment." Kent said pulling out the tonic from Matoya and holding it out to the maid, "Once he ingests the tonic he will wake up." The maid's face instantly lit up as she rushed over and carefully poured the content of the vial into his mouth; there was a moment as we all waited for something to happen and then the prince slowly opened his eyes looking around.

"Where…am I?"

"Prince!" The maid wrapped her arms around him in an embracing hug surprising him and making me worry, his body is way too weak for something like that! He wrapped his arms around her in return shocking all of us.

"It's okay, I'm awake now." His body showed no signs of slowing or even being inoperable; Matoya made some incredible medicine, "I thank you warriors for saving me and my kingdom from being take from Astos and awakening me from my long sleep, as thanks I would like to give you something that will help you on your quest." He rose from his bed and pulled out a small key that was adorned and elegant making it unique from other keys, "This is the mystic key that opens many doors throughout the land and gives you access to items I'm sure you will need on your journey." Kent took the key from the prince and gave him the elven crown in return and with a bow and goodbye we headed out leaving him to delegate and address his people for the first time in months.

We sailed back to Cornelia with me on lookout and aside from the encounters I had to take out giving me real practice dual wielding, the sea was very pale and seemed devoid of any feeling or smell leaving it almost empty from every angle. The monsters popped from the depths but other than them the sea was almost pitch black and slightly scary; we decided to dock just across from Cornelia and with how tense our group was Kent decided to grab the Nitro Powder while the four of us waited on the boat for him to come back. Sending him off alone probably wasn't smart but Gareth and Alice weren't too keen on him treating us like dirt while he takes command; we sat there waiting for him to get back as Lissa and Gareth talked in the corner about something while Alice looked out over the side of the boat while I meditated…no seriously, I meditated for the first time since I learned to sense aura. If I was going to continue traveling with my friends I had to get better control over my mind and keep him from getting out of my head which meant I had to center my mind at every opportunity to make my mind stronger…which meant I also had to practice magic, even if it was dangerous as long as I didn't stretch my limits to exhaustion then he wouldn't get out. My limit could only take level one spells like fire, thunder, heal and spells of that level; after about two spells I had to take a break and drink an ether to keep training.

"Soren, take a break." Gareth said putting his hand on my shoulder, "You can only get so much practice shadow boxing." He was right, the only way to get better quickly is actual life or death combat, "Now how about a sparring match with me?" Sounds like fun and it would keep us sharp.

"You're on." Pulling out a wooden practice sword from the boats storage and a wood battle axw we faced off from opposite sides of the ship.

"Do you two really have to do that now?" Alice asked.

"What else would we do?"

"Sit and wait for him to come back, you don't need to train all the time."

"Then how can we get better?"

"Fine. Just be careful, we don't need you two injured before our next fight." She was right; we might want to avoid hitting each other.

"Hey Gareth, let's make this a disarming match."

"Sure, works for me!" He replied getting in his stance as I did the same. We rushed at each other and I swung at his hit as he grabbed at the hilt between where I swung keeping a firm grip on his axe and pushing me backwards; with his long hit it made it easier for him to hold onto his axe without too much effort. He lunged forward and swung down as I blocked with my blade and pushed his axe to the side making him stumble; I took my opportunity and grabbed the hilt trying to pull it out of his hand but his brute strength gave him good grip as he pulled me forward and sent me to the ground as he pushed me back and swung his axe on to his shoulders giving me a cocky grin; time to wipe that smirk off his face! I rushed forward and swung at his axe top hitting it and confusing him as I pushed in and sent him toppling over with the weapon and grabbed the handle before he hit the ground pulling it towards me as he came back to his feet and I let go moving out of the way sending him face first into the floor making him flail to catch himself and let go of the axe to use both hands to catch himself and I swooped in catching the battle axe he let go of. As he looked up I gave him the same cocky grin and we laughed feeling the tension from earlier today dissipate as we enjoyed what Alice would call 'guy time' but it still made me feel better to enjoy the time I had with my friends, "Feel better?" Gareth asked standing up…he could be smart when he wanted to be.

"Much better, thanks a lot."

"No problem man, but next time I'll wipe the floor with you."

"Not if I can help it." We fist bumped and turned to see Alice and Lissa watching us with Alice rolling her eyes with a smile and Lissa watching with a genuine smile on her face; I think it was time to give someone else our attention, "Hey Lissa, I've been wondering, where are you originally from." As I asked that everyone turned to her and she had a surprised look on her face, "It's just that we've known you for a long time but we still have no clue where you're from."

"Well…believe it or not…I'm from where you guys are from, I'm from earth." Wait…really?

"You're from earth?" Gareth asked surprised.

"Yep, from Aurora Colorado actually." So she's actually from where we live to?

"But if that's true…" Alice went off in deep thought, "We've been back and forth but we spent at about two and a half months and never got a missing persons alert at all." She's right; wouldn't they have noticed a seventeen year old girl go missing?

"Well…have you noticed how time moves differently when you're in another world?"

"When I returned from Hyrule it was the day after I left in the evening." I said thinking back on the first time I traveled to another world, "How many days did we spend in Hyrule Alice?"

"It was about…five days? Maybe more or less but around there."

"Gareth, how many days in the Mushroom Kingdom?"

"About…seven days?"

"And it was the same time jump when we got back."

"Time seems to come to a halt on earth compared to these worlds. That would mean that there are different laws of time between worlds…but that's not the case." She was really confusing us.

"What do you mean?"

"You've met her, right?" Was she talking about the voice?

"The female voice that brought us here?"

"That's right. The boss believes that she controls time and can bend it to her will, so in theory you could stay here for years but when you get back time would have passed only as much as she allowed it to on earth." That kind of sounds like the wardrobe from Narnia.

"She controls a lot more than you'd think she would…and yet no one has seen her face or form, but one thing is true, every traveler she calls has been from earth." From earth!?"

"From earth!?" Gareth and Alice said surprised by her claim, "Are you positive?"

"Every traveler in the bosses group is from earth; their back round all had them come from earth before they joined."…other travelers…

"Hey Lissa…how many travelers has he recruited." She went a little hesitant as I asked that question, "Lissa."

"Time is very strange and so every second is another traveler he gains and the last time I saw the group it was almost over a thousand strong."

"One thousand!?" We all said that in shock at the large number he had acclaimed; we knew he had a following but we didn't know that his group was so large; it was like going up against an army…luckily he didn't sick them on us.

"But there not like normal people." What?

"What do you mean?"

"The boss…did something and their eyes were devoid of emotion…they became monsters…it was terrifying. They changed to someone else completely."

"Is that what happened to you?" I asked that and she looked at me with surprise.

"…Yes, the first time we met…I was me and then I lost control."

"Lost control?"

"Alright I got the Nitro Powder!" Kent voice cut in halting our conversation, "Let's get moving, we have to head to Mt. Duergar and give this to a dwarf that will help us somehow."

"Somehow?" Alice said unconvinced by his lack of confidence.

"We'll know when we get there." He said putting an end to our conversation.

"We'll continue this later." I said to Lissa as we started sailing to the nearby port; I wanted to know more and she had the information I needed.

We docked near the mountain residents of the dwarves and entered the oddly warmer interior that seemed like another section of the world compared to the temperature outside; the dwarves must use something to keep the caves warm so they don't freeze during the winter, it felt like my body was wrapped in a warm electric blanket that was set on a comfortable temperature in the middle of winter and I had a mug of cocoa in my hands.

"Keep it together." Alice said snapping her fingers in my face bringing me back to my senses.

"Sorry it's just very warm in here."

"Feels nice." Gareth said continuing to walk.

"Better than I thought a cave would be." Lissa said looking around.

"Alright, I'm going to go give this to the guy working on the cave wall at the far end, you guys wander until we're ready to leave." Kent walked off leaving us to look around and as I took survey of the area I noticed the sound of metal being hit from a nearby room. I opened the door to see a dwarf working on a sword as he tempered the red hot metal.

"Still not good enough." He tossed the blade into a pile of other sword and pulled out another piece of metal working on that.

"What are you doing?" I asked approaching him.

"Trying to temper the best sword I can but so far I've just gotten mediocre results with these blades." He tossed another blade into the pile and pulled another blade out, "I'm pretty sure the metal is my main problem." I picked up one of his blades and swung it around getting a feel for the blade; it was well balanced on both ends and felt light despite its look, the sides looked sharp enough to cut across almost anything it struck with ease.

"These blades are amazing, what are they made out of?"

"Mythril but it still doesn't feel good enough; there's only one metal I could use, adamantite. The legendary metal that only the greatest blacksmith could forge into the ultimate blade." So he could create the greatest blade ever?

"If I find it, I'll bring it back and give it to you." I said confidently, it was a long shot but I wanted to see what he created with legendary metal.

"Thank ye lad, please take the mythril blades as my trust in you to bring it back." Now I HAD to bring it back for him. I picked up four swords tucking them under my arm.

"Thank You I promise-" before I could finish I heard a large explosion that startled us both and when it stopped we stood there waiting for whatever would come next as Kent and the group entered the room to see me.

"We're done here." Kent said wiping his hands clean, "What have you got there?"

"Mythril blades." I answered passing one to Kent and Alice, "He let me have them in return to search for adamantite."

"The legendary metal!?" Kent said in surprise, "It doesn't exist!"

"Then why do people know about it?" I retaliated.

"It's a legend! Sir you know this right?" He turned to the blacksmith who nodded.

"I like to believe that it exists laddie, in fact I would like to make personal weapons for all of you for agreeing to search for it."

"Really!?" Gareth said excited, "Can you make me a battle axe!?"

"Of course, for you young lady." He asked Lissa.

"Umm…I don't know." She said shyly.

"I think I've got an idea." He said as his eyes were drawn to her sickle.

"Can I get a katana?" Alice said tossing aside the mythril sword I handed her.

"What about you two?" He asked turning to me and Kent.

"I don't mind the two mythril swords I've got." I said holding them happily.

"Me either but could I get a shield?"

"Sure." We waited as he made our weapons gleefully moving to his own beat as he clashed the metal into shapes.

A few hours later he finished up with our weapons and handed them out giving Gareth a mythril battle axe, Alice her mythril katana and strangely enough he gave Lissa a large mythril scythe.

"The only scythe of its kind my dear, take good care of it." He said handing it to her and a harness to keep it on her back.

"Thank you sir." She said with a respectful bow.

"Good luck on your journey young ones." As we left I turned around quickly.

"I promise we'll be back!" I shouted and he gave me a hearty laugh.

"I know you will be boy!" I rushed to catch up with everyone and we headed back to the ship eager to explore the new part of the world.

We passed along the new line of water the explosion had created and found ourselves in a new part of the ocean; with haste we headed for the nearest port and found ourselves near the town of Melmond. As we entered the town I noticed that the earth around the town was rotted and any foliage was brown and dead; the people in the town fared no better, they looked hungry and close to death, the town was also covered in gravestones that made this feel like a town specifically for those ready to go to the land of the dead. We asked a few of the villagers more keen on talking about what happened and they all seemed to allude to the same cause.

"Apparently a vampire is causing all this earth rot." I said and everyone gave me a look of disbelief, "What? You all heard the same thing I did!"

"Yeah but it's still hard to believe." Alice said shaking her head.

"Well vampires do suck." Gareth said trying to make sense of the situation.

"Don't they suck blood?" Lissa asked knowing the answer to that question.

"Regardless of the truth we have to head to the cavern of earth to find it." Kent said as he tossed his orb around as it seemed to resonate with something, "And find the earth crystal."

"That orb telling you something?" I asked pointing to the orb in his hand which he hastily put back in his satchel, "Let's just get moving!" With that end we headed out and soon found the cavern of earth near the end of the land and entered it feeling something sinister emanating from inside the cave. The interior felt like at any moment something would jump out and attack; coincidentally that happened quite a bit catching us off guard and almost overwhelming us as we passed from floor to floor fighting a large number of enemies that wouldn't let up no matter how many we took out. It was like they were just throwing everything at us instead of knowing when to stop, whoever was at the end of this cave obviously wanted us dead before we reached them. By the time we reached the third floor our group was worn to the bone from every fight we had on the previous two floors.

"Are…we done…yet?" Lissa asked leaning on her scythe; I was actually very surprised by her speed and the ease at which she swung the large weapon around, it was like watching Gareth swing his axe around but they had unique styles with their large weapons. While Gareth used his strength and quick recovery to attack and retaliate while staying in his stance unmovable by his enemy Lissa never stayed in the same stance or place; she used her scythe like an extra step avoiding enemies by using it as a vaulting pole and moving behind them and with a quick pull sliced the enemy in two as she pulled her weapon closer to her. Even when she went front on she made quick swings using the momentum to slice from the other side which was where she and Gareth shared a similarity, they both use the momentum of their swings to add an extra hit to their combos.

"I think we're close now." Kent said swiping the monster blood off his blade; I got a good look at his style with a shield and was honestly unimpressed by his style, he had a very standard attack in which he would attack and then block and then retaliate with another attack. He used the same tactic that I've seen other sword and shield users employed; there was no uniqueness to his fighting making it very bland in my eyes. We moved on and I noticed that there was a distinct lack of…any monsters on this floor; something big must be on this floor if it's so devoid of any life. We entered a strange room and I felt a cold wind blow through the room chilling me down to the bone, "Something is wrong here." Kent said walking slowly; we all entered and as we got farther in I looked to the side to see red eyes poke out through the darkness, in that moment I felt an aura of danger and pushed Kent out of the way as a strange beam hit me knocking me backwards.

"Soren!" Alice, Gareth and Lissa crowded around me helping me up and as I stood up I felt a strange numbness in my legs and looked to see they were turning to stone, "Damnit Soren!" Alice said hitting my head, "What did I say about this!?"

"Sorry Alice, but you knew I would."

"That doesn't stop me from being angry at you for doing it!" She yelled as my torso was now stone.

"You got this?" I asked and they nodded, "Good." With that my body had become entirely stone and all I could do was watch as they fought against the vampire that emerged from the shadows; he was large and intimidating but I wasn't worried, I knew they had this. Alice shot different fire spells as Lissa hopped and vaulted around him casting light spells at which he cringed at; Gareth and Kent stayed close hitting his openings as he swung at them trying to claw them as they blocked and dodged...as I watched I was actually intrigued by Kent's fighting form. He had completely changed from his standard form against the mobs and seemed to use his sword and shield to his advantage; when blocking he would push the shield and move the hand getting a thrust in his center and when the vampire charged up a spell he would bash the shield against him jarring the vampire and stopping the spell before it could do anything, as the fight progressed the group grew more tired as the vampire seemed to just become more annoyed, were the attacks not doing anything? He was undead and a vampire, the only thing that was slowing him down was the light spells that Lissa was casting and they weren't strong enough…maybe if the weapons were coated in that spell than the fight would be able to finish up before they wore themselves to death…or I could try. Diaga! As I stretched to cast the spell I watched as everyone's weapons were bathed in light from my spell and I felt my mind go hazy again. (Not your smartest idea.) You think I didn't think this through, right now I'm stone, and you can't go anywhere. (Knowing your friends I'll be out of here in no time.) No you won't, I won't let you! (Once you pass out I take over.) Then I won't pass out. (Don't make me laugh, that was more than you could take.) I watched as Alice's katana plunged into the vampire killing him and then she grabbed Kent dragging him over to me as my vision began to cut in and out. (In five) Kent pulled out a gold needle and pricked it into my arm. (Four) The stone around me disappeared as I gained control of my body slowly. (Three) I collapsed to the ground feeling my consciousness fade faster and cut in and out at a rapid rate. (Two) Suddenly Alice grabbed me by my collar and pulled out an ether. (On- wait what!?) She shoved the ether down my throat and I felt my fading consciousness return and I stood up on my own shaking my head.

"Thanks Alice." I said and she gave me an angry look.

"Stop doing that!" She said hitting me, "Every time you pull a stupid stunt like that I have to worry about you and that gives me gray hairs!"

"Seriously dude, you really need to think before you leap." Gareth said slapping my back, "I told you I don't want to run into Jarek again!"

"I could have done that and then you wouldn't have had to take that risk!" Lissa said pouting.

"You guys were starting to get exhausted so I had to act fast before you tired out." I explained but Alice didn't stop hitting me.

"It doesn't matter, I don't want you changing to Jarek on me out of nowhere again got it!?"

"Alice I-"

"GOT IT!?"

"Okay okay, I'll be more careful."

"Good." With that she stopped and turned around; suddenly Kent tapped my shoulder and gave me a serious look.

"…Thanks for saving me, I was the only one with gold needles so it would have been a problem if I was stone."

"That's not why I saved you."

"What?"

"You're a teammate, that's a good enough reason to save you."

"Well…thanks."

"No problem Kent." I replied punching him in the arm and regretting it as my arm almost cracked at hitting his armor which he laughed at.

"Oh come on!" We both turned to see Alice Gareth and Lissa surrounding someone on the ground; we moved over to them to see someone in a green cloak lying on the ground in which Kent moved past me and picked them up.

"It's Hana! My dependable black mage of the warriors of light!" Kent said happily; I looked over at Alice to see her shaking her head with her hand to her temple.

"Look at the face." I moved next to Kent to see a girl with black hair sleeping peacefully…she looked exactly like Alice, "Can this not be a trend?"

"It doesn't look like the odds are going to be in our favor." Gareth said with a hearty laugh. Kent looked up at Alice and back at Hana before giving a look of surprise.

"I never noticed but she looks exactly like Alice." Alice quickly struck me upside the head.

"That would have been important to know!"

"Ow! Why me?"

"I'm use to hitting you." That's not a good thing to be use to.


	8. Chapter 8

I looked upon Hana's face at every detail it had and looked back at Alice to see it was one for one on how similar they were; from the smallest hair to the littlest pimple they shared almost every trait, it was kind of freaky but with Kent and me looking the same I wasn't as weirded out.

"You know." Alice began shaking her fist, "It's not nice to stare at a lady's pimples…and even worse to make them aware of it!" She quickly hit me on the head and I moved away rubbing the spot she hit, "We don't look that similar!"

"Lies!" I said pointing at her, "It's point for point on similarities and you even have the same style of ponytail."

"That doesn't make her me."

"No but she is your doppelganger, like Kent and Soren." Gareth said pointing to me and Kent who was currently checking the room from every corner and angle; the door forward was barred shut and none of our magic was strong enough to break it down and even our mythril weapons were useless against it which was strange because steel and mythril are pretty distant on the which will cut through which category. The only thing in the room was a strange gem in the chest so Kent was busy searching for a new hole or switch to help us advance but so far no luck; at this rate we might have to head back to town especially with an unconscious warrior of light with us right now.

"How are we supposed to advance without an open door?!" Kent yelled kicking the sealed door angrily; he was obviously very pissed at having to stop so close to his goal, the orb on his belt was blinking like a traffic signal that was malfunctioning. With our group so close it was kind of weird we would be stopped now and not by an enemy but by a door; maybe that gem is supposed to do something?

"We should head back to town." Gareth said picking up Hana and slinging her over his shoulder; bad move my friend."

"Give me her!" Alice yelled pulling Hana out of Gareth's hand, "She's not a sack of rice you brute…and if she is my doppelganger then I don't want you touching her. I know you don't wash your hands." I gave a snicker and she gave me a glare, "Neither do you so you're off the list to."

"I wash my hands."

"You wear those gloves and the last time I saw you take them off is when you last slept so I know the truth." Damn…she had me at that, "I'll carry her, you four just keep us protected on the way back, think you can handle that?"

"Combat is my bread and butter." Gareth said brandishing his axe.

"I need protection, not blind fighting."

"We can't leave yet!" We all turned to see Kent giving us an angry look, "We're too close to just go back."

"We can't go any farther this way, we're going to have to come back later with a new method." I said trying to convince him.

"But if we leave now then we're just giving up, we have to keep going!"

"Are you crazy? We have to leave and come back another time, we just can't advance right now and we have to get Hana out of here, she doesn't look very good."

"DO YOU EVEN CARE!?" I backed up in shock at his outburst, "The more time we waste the more this world becomes worse and worse by the second, you want to help, you want to be a hero? Then think of the world for a second!" He seemed even more pissed at me than usual; usually he would look at me with distain and scold me for my actions but something was getting him more riled up than ever.

"How about you think about your teammates for a change!" I turned to see Alice with her angry face…but it was actual anger this time, "All you've done is push us to hurry but have you ever bothered to ask how we feel about the situation? Even if you don't care about us how about your fellow warrior Hana? She's not in the best shape right now and you want to leave her to die? What type of leader does that!?"

"I have to agree with Alice." Gareth cut in, "No leader let's there team members suffer for any reason. All you've done is focus on the crystals and your goal."

"That's because it's my job! I'm a warrior of light; I have a duty to save the world regardless of the cost."

"If it's at the cost of those who stand by you…it's not worth it." Lissa said looking to the ground sadly, "It's never worth it."

…

"We all knew the cost. It's what we signed up for…I tried to save them from Garland and I almost died…and if I died then there wouldn't have been anyone left to save this world. I can't die, but I can't give up either, I have to keep going no matter the cost!"

…I pulled out my blade and rushed him as he stepped back in shock; as he reached for his sword and shield I dropped my blade and quickly punched him in the face, he stumbled for a moment before falling over unconscious, I looked back to see a look of shock on everyone's face as they looked at me. I picked up my sword and sheathed it; as much as I would have liked to keep convincing him…it wouldn't have gotten through…he really was me, stubborn until the very end on his beliefs.

"Gareth can you pick him up? I don't think I have the strength to carry him and that suit of armor he wears." I said as I pulled the orb off of his body; it was still blinking like crazy but that wasn't important right now.

"How did you-" I stopped Gareth before he could finish and motioned to Hana and back to Kent.

"As much fun as this conversation would be, I think we have a bigger issue on our hands." I replied standing up, "If you two can carry Lissa and I can protect you." I said and they all nodded, "Good, let's hurry. The longer we spend here the more monsters converge at the stairs and I'd rather not be overwhelmed." As I walked in front the footsteps behind were quiet and slow before they caught up; the walk up was a bit more taxing with Lissa and I on permanent front line work as Gareth and Alice stayed in the back waiting to get moving. I was right about the increase, the monsters seemed to double form our trip down making the trip up even more treacherous; with Alice's advice we decided to have Lissa and I clear a straight path through the monsters which Alice and Gareth dashed through and then we caught up with them fleeing from the remaining monsters as quick as we could. It took about an hour for us to get through the first half of the cave and outside.

"(pant)…(pant) That was…not easy." Lissa said leaning on her scythe, "It's not…getting an easier either." She was right, the last time we went through there the monsters weren't even half that strong; even working at two-fifths the strength they seemed stronger than before…were they getting better the more we advanced? I pushed that thought aside and waited until everyone had their strength back; once everyone was better we made our way back to Melmond avoiding any monster clusters, unfortunately there were clusters along the quickest route making our journey back about three times as long and by the time we made it to town the sun was starting to set and the night was beginning to seep in. We grabbed an inn room and set Kent and Hana into two of the four beds as we stayed up for a few more hours; I had a hunch the group had some questions to ask me.

"Alright, start spilling the beans." Gareth said with a sly grin on his face, "That's the most I've seen you display a sack since our last run in with the cloaked guy, did you snap for a minute there?"

"I'd like an explanation as well." Alice said giving me a cocked eyebrow, "I've known you the longest and the only time you act that fast and devious is against monsters and enemies. So what made you knock him out? That's not like you at all."

"You remember how you all said we are the same."

"Yes. The recurring joke of the week." Gareth said snidely, "What about it?"

"That last line he spewed was lined with more than blind ambition. I could feel something familiar as he said those words, stubborn and unyielding to change reminded me of…well me." They listened intently still eager to hear what I had to say, "So in that moment I knew he wouldn't back down, as much as I would have loved to continue that debate as I'm sure Alice would have as well."

"Hey!"

"It's true."

"I don't back down from a challenge! He would have caved eventually."

"Not without much more of a fight and we couldn't risk that with Hana in that condition, after a good night's rest she should be up and about…in fact, Lissa can you do a light healing spell on her just in case?"

"Oh…sure." Lissa stood up and moved over performing white magic on Hana and I watched closely noticing that Hana's breath became steadier as Lissa healed her; looks like that helped more than I thought it would.

"You know it's weird seeing you get so serious without a monster around." Alice began, "Seeing your face turn from its usual cheery open eyed look to a stoic, cold and serious face is really shocking…is that the first time you've done that?"

"No, but I don't do it often, I don't like to be that serious honestly…you remember when I told you about my home life?"

"Yep, twice now."

"Once for me." Gareth said barging in on the conversation.

"Well there were two faces to my life, the public face that's happy and cheery and wide eyed…and then the home face, the stoic, strong and skeptical face."

"You? Skeptical?"

"I know it's hard to believe Gareth but even I have those I don't trust, sadly not anyone I can exactly avoid."

"Your sister right?" Alice said.

"Yep."

"Even after all something is strange."

"What do you mean?"

"From your story she hasn't done anything in the past few years?"

"That's right."

"No one can just stay hold up in there room without human interaction for so long…are you sure she hasn't had ANY human interactions?" What was she getting at?

"Yeah, for about…two years now…huh…" Thinking about it rationally did bring up a few questions I couldn't answer and honestly made me scared…was there more to this then I thought and if there is then what?

"Jarek said you suffered from multiple personality disorder…did anything else happen Soren?" Multiple personality disorder…that's what he is? But what caused him?

"No…I don't have any memory of what could have caused it."

"That's understandable." Lissa cut in, "If he split from you it means the experience was too traumatic for your brain to handle and so it split that from your memory."

"So he knows but you don't." Alice said explaining her thought process in this matter; so there was something in my memory missing, this was starting to make my head spin.

"Let's just get some sleep, my head doesn't feel very good." I said gripping my forehead; I was starting to get a headache as we talked about this.

"Okay, we can talk about this later." Alice said as she crawled into one of the other beds and Lissa did the same.

"Wait, where are we supposed to sleep?" Gareth asked confused at the full beds with us still standing.

"The floor." Alice said flopping onto her pillow, "Night." Gareth gave me a look of shock and I just shrugged and he gave a sigh as he dropped to the carpeted floor and started snoring loudly; he fell asleep very quickly. Finding a comfortable spot on the carpet I closed my eyes and waited for sleep to take over but my headache seemed to intensify; it was like my brain was straining to remember something and it burned making me cringe and curl in pain; what was happening!? As I squirmed in distress I felt as someone grabbed the back of my head and pulled me in to a soft embrace; it felt like my face was pressed against soft pillows and a soft voice talked to me.

"Shhh, it's okay, you're safe…just rest." It sounded familiar…it sounded like Alice; before I could look up I felt my headache fade and the warm embrace lull me to sleep with a gentle humming.

I rose from the floor and looked to see a pitch black darkness surrounds me; it was this dream again, guess I should go through the motion with this. I waited for a door to appear but as much as I waited the area seem to just stay in the same darkness…was something wrong? I looked around and stood up and began walking into the darkness; I wasn't sure what was happening anymore but whenever I walked into the darkness before I eventually found the door to the rest of the dream…but was that something I wanted? This is a nightmare that I've lived with for almost two years and I had to wonder if the pain was worth it…but maybe it was just my repressed feelings; as I walked the area seemed to become lighter, the black turned to a gray and that gray became lighter as I walked further in; this was very different. Eventually I came to a door in the light and as I turned the knob it refused to turn; must be locked…I don't have the key either; as I contemplated this I heard a loud thud and turned to see the gray had become a pitch darkness with the very familiar door at the end, guess I should open it like always. I approached the door and wrapped my left hand around the knob and felt three different hands grab my jacket, I turned in shock to see three concerned faces looking at me; it was Alice, Gareth and Lissa with the same look of fear and concern on their faces…what were they doing in my dream? As I contemplated this Alice opened her mouth and her voice echoed in my head as I awoke from my slumber.

"Please…don't leave."

I opened my eyes slowly to see the girl from my dreams with a more than pissed of expression; her face was red with rage and her teeth looked like if they pushed against each other anymore they would break and I think I could see a throbbing vein pulsating under her bangs on her forehead.

"How did this happen SOREN?!" She whispered in intense anger; I think she was beginning to vibrate, I screwed up royally on…something. As she stood there with an intense hatred in her eye Gareth and Lissa came over and Lissa gave a short gasp while Gareth began to laugh.

"Oh my."

"You've got some serious balls dude! It's hilarious!" What was he talking about? As I tried to move I felt something wrapped around my body and looked down to see I was in a bed; still fully clothed thankfully. I looked to my other side to see mounds staring me in the face; looking up I saw the face of Alice sleeping as she smothered me…right, this was Hana! Suddenly she shifted and pulled me in and my vision disappeared under a small mountain of chest as she murmured in her sleep; I was going to die and if not by smothering then by Alice. I tried pulling out of her embrace and felt her iron grip follow me as we fell off the bed onto the floor; with a thud I hit the back of my head and she slowly shifted as she began to stir.

"Ngh…is it morning already?" She slowly at up and rubbed her eyes still sitting on top of me and slightly shifting…not now tiny head! She looked down with a big smile and wrapped her arms around me in a hug, "Kent! I knew you would save me! We're dear teammates and bound by fate; nothing could stop us from coming back together. I just knew you would be the one to save me though, it's like a knight saving a princess from an evil dragon." As she rambled I felt my breaths become shorter as air was cut off as I was smothered in her bosom; Alice, Gareth, Lissa, help me! Eventually Alice and Gareth pried her off me and she looked at Alice with a wide-eyed stare, "Did you get another girl that looks just lie me Kent!? That's so cruel, here I thought I was unique and special to you but you just found another person just like me, you've broken my heart." What's up with her; she's hyper and bouncy and airheaded with too much energy even for being hyper…oh my god!

"It's outside Alice!" I looked over to see Gareth had simultaneously said it at the same time and then Alice pulled me up by my ear, "owowowowowowowow!"

"Shut it! I'm not even going to touch on the 'outside Alice' thing; I'd rather find out why you were in the same bed with her! So tell me…NOW!" She was more pissed off than usual, it was like the moment with Jessie all over again!

"One minute, I was sleeping on the ground and the next I was embraced by something and fell asleep against my will. I'm as confused as you in this matter!"

"Horse crap!" She yelled not believing me; she was acting very irrationally right now and I had no idea why and it was scaring me to know end.

"So that's what I grabbed in my sleep. I heard something rustling so I pulled it into my bed to comfort it and they fell asleep instantly." As she said that Alice dropped me and nervously coughed as her face turned from intense red rage to embarrassed pink as she looked away.

"Well we all make mistakes."

"Painful mistakes!" I yelled rubbing my swollen ear; her nails were sharp.

"Watch yourself from now on!" She yelled back looking away from me.

"Can someone explain this to me please?" We all turned to Hana who now had a confused look on her face with a pout, "There's a girl who looks like me, another Kent sleeping in the bed over there and I get the feeling those two aren't Pent and Sena." She said pointing all over the room. After explaining the situation to her to the best the four of us could she gave a look of realization and went back to a smile, "So you're Soren and you look like Kent while she's Alice and looks like me and those two aren't Pent and Sena but you're traveling with Kent to find the crystals and the other warriors."

"Yep, that's what's happening." Lissa said with a sigh; it took longer to explain than it probably should have; she really was an airhead, as we discussed I noticed out of the corner of my eye to see Kent beginning to stir.

"Hey Hana."

"Yes Soren?"

"What do you remember last?"

"Well…there was the fight with Garland and then as I laid there defeated I was surrounded by an orb and then my vision went dark. The last thing I remember was Kent jumping in front of us to protect the three of us…but it seems that didn't work like he thought it would."

"What is Kent like?"

"Kent?…He's really nice and caring, he's willing to protect those in danger and help those who need it, he has a gentle look and makes other feel like they can trust him."

"What!?" Lissa said in surprise, "But Kent acts completely different from that. Are you sure you're not wrong?"

"I've known him for quite a few years and I'm pretty sure he's a nice guy!" She said with a pout.

"But Kent-" Before Lissa could finish her sentence I felt a fist collide with my face and tumbled to the floor feeling blood pool in my mouth; he had a mean left hook.

"That's for knocking me out! What the hell is wrong with you!?" He grabbed me by my shirt and lifted me up and threw another punch at me knocking me into a bed and then tumbling onto the floor, "Now we're set back and it's your entire fault!" I stood up and wiped the blood out of my mouth.

"I don't regret it Kent, I did what I had to." He rushed at me and charged into me knocking me over and sitting on top of me.

"What you had to do!? Now the land is going to die and it's all your fault!" Before he tried to punch me I heard the sound of a blade unsheathing and looked to see a katana pushed against his throat with Alice holding it behind him.

"Don't. Even. THINK! About it." She said slowly pushing the metal against his throat, "If I even see your fist hit his face I will not hesitate to cut your throat!" He shivered as he dropped his fist; Alice refused to move the blade from his throat and we all stayed in our spots with the tension increasing b the second.

"Kent why are you so hasty?"

"I have to save the world…I told you this."

"Are you sure it's just the world you're trying to save? Or are you trying to save the other warriors of light." His eyes widened for a minute before returning to normal; got him, "Kent, I know you want to save your friends…but if you don't slow down then you're going to lose all of them. If we hadn't brought Hana back here and healed her she might not have survived, we can't rush blindly into a fight…I've almost died because I did that and I won't let it happen to you!"

"But if I don't hurry then I'll lose all of my friends. Then I won't have anything left." He slumped and stopped moving, "Do you know why we're warriors of light? We have all been chosen since birth and with that came more death than I wanted. Monsters slaughtered our homeland and our families…all I have left are those three and they could die at any minute." He began to cry, "I just don't want to lose my friends…because I wasn't strong enough to protect them…I can't slow down as long as they're in trouble."

"But if you die before you can save them then what was the point…besides, it's not just you fighting out there, if you care about them then you need to compromise with us and work together to save them…but in order to do that I need you to trust me and my team as more than just extras, we want to save this world and your friends but we need to cooperate and listen to each other, please Kent…trust me. If anyone can understand how you're feeling it's me…and right now, I need you to calm down and give us a chance." After a few minutes he stood up and I got up after him; Alice sheathed her katana and I extended my left hand to Kent, "…Please Kent." He slowly raised his hand and shook mine in return; hopefully with this we could start to work together instead of just tolerating each other.

"What's happening here?" We both turned to see Hana with a confused look on her face and we both gave a laugh at her confused expression.

After we resupplied we stopped by the local shops to arm Hana with the proper equipment; her talent was primarily black magic which Lissa and I found very strange considering her bouncy and happy personality.

"I thought she would have a talent for white magic." Lissa said in disbelief.

"I know, it would have made sense right?" I replied, we waited outside as Alice and Kent helped Hana pick out clothing while Gareth picked up a staff from the weapon shop.

"Is your face okay?"

"Just a little bruised. I'll be fine."

"Hang on…heal!" My bruises faded as she casted her spell on me.

"You didn't have to do that."

"I wanted to…after all you put yourself on the line when you confronted Kent in that matter."

"Yeah, if Alice hadn't stepped in I might have had a broken nose." I gave a chuckle and she giggled.

"Why didn't you fight back?"

"Some people just need to get out what they need and I'd rather I take the hit than any of you…that's why I did what I did."

"…You know…you act just like my brother you know?"

"Really?"

"He always put himself in front to take the hits and always had a smile on his face when all was said and done. He never regretted when he came out worse than everyone else…he always protected me and I loved him more than anyone."

"He sounds like a great guy."

"Yeah…" She walked away slowly but I was able to catch the last thing she said before walking away from me and heading to the weapon shop, "He was a great person."


	9. Chapter 9

As I waited for Kent, Hana and Alice to come out of the armory I was left to contemplate what Lissa said before she left me alone to wait; 'he WAS a great person' what happened to him…and is it related to her past issues? She's stayed relatively quiet about her personal life and all I knew about her was the information I got on the boat and our previous encounters as enemies…thinking about it now I might not have fought Lissa the first time I met her. It sounds strange even to me but when I look into her eyes now and compare them to the cold and calculated gaze I got from our first encounter I don't feel like I was looking at the same person I do now. She said that the other travelers had eyes that were devoid of emotion and she had suffered the same fate as them, she lost control in Hyrule but her eyes at the time didn't look void; it looked like another person was behind those eyes. She told me that they looked devoid but she never said anything about them turning back or changing back…that just begs the question of why she changed back while others didn't.

As I thought about Lissa's situation I suddenly heard the bell of the armory and turned to see Alice and Kent come out with Hana skipping behind them in a black witch's hat and dress with a green ribbon tied to the hat.

"How do I look Soren?" Hana asked twirling in place.

"Like a true black witch with style." I complimented making her giggle; Kent rolled his eyes while Alice looked away with an angry look on her face; somethings got her goat.

"You're too much." She replied playfully, "Now where is everyone else?"

"Gareth is at the weapon store picking you up a staff and Lissa walked away a few minutes ago…probably to check on him." I said taking a guess at where she could have gone.

"Let's go meet up with him then." Hana said skipping away from us.

"She's supposed to be my doppelganger?" Alice said with a hint of annoyance in her voice, "She and I are nothing alike."

"You honestly can't remember a time when you were that chipper and happy?"

"Nope."

"Really?"

"…Well…when I was kid I was like that."

"There you go."

"I don't think I was that airheaded though."

"That's where you two differ…maybe."

"Did you say maybe?"

"No, let's just follow her." I said quickly changing the conversation before she caught on; I felt her glare at me as we followed behind her though.

"So what type of weapons can you use?" Alice asked Hana as we approached the weapon shop.

"I'm not good with any weapons actually." Hana replied.

"She uses staves to increase her magic power." Kent added in; staves...must be a channeling weapon for magic.

"That's not a weapon." Alice said coldly.

"No but if I hit them on the head it makes a bonk noise." Hana said replicating swinging a staff down.

"I doubt that does any damage though."

"You're no fun!"

"And you're to hyper!" They looked each other in the eyes with a sense of hate on both ends; as they stared daggers at each other Gareth came out of the weapn shop and came to a dead stop when he saw the situation.

"Is this the fabled girl fight? My dreams are coming true." He said with a happy sigh; did he lose his mind!?...Well mayb- no! Don't let your mind wander Soren, it will end badly.

"I say we let this continue." Kent whispered; looks like I lost Kent to the wonderful world of girl fights…no, not wonderful world!

"Break it up girls; this could get worse for everyone here if it continues." I said separating the two girls from each other, "Gareth, what did you get?"

"Too bad; anyway, I found a power staff and picked it up." He said pulling out a small wooden staff and tossing it to Hana who fumbled with it before gripping it tightly and swinging it around; Alice ducked as she swung it around.

"Careful! I'd rather not get hit with a stick." Alice said stepping behind me.

"Sorry, anyway; where are we headed next?" Hana asked putting the staff inside her robe.

"While I was in the weapon store I heard an interesting story." Gareth began, "In the cave across from the earth cave there's a giant who is looking rather hungry and he only eats gems. Apparently there's an old man who I'm guessing could help us."

"Why do you think that?" Kent asked skeptical of his news.

"Well I don't know many old men who just hang out in a cave and don't have magical abilities." Gareth replied confidently…unfortunately his logic was sound in the sense of an RPG game…which we were in.

"…Damnit he's right." Apparently that logic is sound to the world as well, "All right so shall we head out then?"

"Wait a minute." Gareth said stopping us all, "Where's Lissa?"

"We thought she was with you." Alice said as a skeptical look came over her face.

"Um…over here." We all turned to see Lissa standing there with a large bag, "I picked up some items for our trip back out since the trip down had almost depleted our supply." She held out the bag and I looked through it; it had a few of the necessities such as potions and ethers as well as a few gold needles to cure stone.

"Good job, this should be what we need." I said praising her.

"Thanks, I also picked up two phoenix downs for emergencies." She handed me two small vials of strange clear, almost sliver, liquid; I put one in my pack and gave the other to Alice, "So where are we headed?"

We headed for the cave again hacking through the creatures that attacked us with slight problems but staying safe; with the larger group we decided to set up a new system to improve ease of combat. Four of us would take vanguard and attack while the other two would sit on support and take a breather and heal if needed, when one of us grew tiered or weary in the middle of battle we could switch with one of the members on support and take our breather while they fight. For Hana we came up with a more strategical maneuver and had her on permanent support; from the support line in back she could still cast spells and attack without needing to be on vanguard and in danger of being hit making her more dangerous, Alice and Lissa also knew magic but they could actually fight which made them more useful on the front lines than in support. It made combat faster and more manageable for our group to defend and attack when needed; eventually we made it to the cave and entered to see a stone giant snoring away as he blocked the very narrow pathway behind him.

"How do we wake him up?" Lissa asked shaking the monster blood off of her scythe.

"We could shake him." I said trying to come up with an idea.

"He's made of stone, not sure that will work." Gareth pointed out as he rolled his shoulder.

"What have you got then?"

"I've got this." Alice said rolling a pebble in her hand; she threw it with all her strength and hit his head with a small thock sound following it.

"Are you crazy?" Hana said slightly worried, "What if he's pissed at you?"

"…Okay I don't like her."

"And yet she looks just like you." I said mockingly.

"One of the reasons I hate her more." I looked back up at the giant to see it start to move and open its eyes slowly; it gave a loud yawn and stretched out standing up, as it stood up I felt the ground slightly shake with every step it took.

"(Yawn) None…shall pass…(Yawn)"

"Still tiered there buddy." Gareth said chuckling; the giant shook its head and stood up looking fully awake.

"NONE SHALL PASS!" Its voice boomed and echoed against the cave walls bouncing around us coming off louder each time before echoing out.

"Gareth, please don't mock the giant anymore." Lissa said rubbing her ears.

"Seconded." Hana said crouching holding her ears.

"Would you let us pass for a star ruby?" Kent asked holding up the ruby; the giant's eyes widened as he looked at the ruby and I swear if he had saliva he would be drooling.

"A…star…ruby." The giant said staring at the gem and smacking its rock lips which was just banging rocks together loudly, "You may pass…for the star ruby." With that deal Kent tossed him the star ruby and he stumbled away slowly leaving the path open for us to go through.

"Let's hurry; the sooner we get what we need the sooner the earth can begin to grow again." With Kent's word we moved through the cave back into the open air world; traveling further down the path we came to another cave and entered to see a maze of twist and turns with doorways leading to rooms full of empty jars. As we opened the last door we entered a slightly larger room with a bed and table displayed, at the end of the room stood a man with a white beard and eyes that seemed to indicate that he had seen the world and everything it had to offer and then some.

"So you are the six who defeated the vampire?" He asked in earnest but I had a feeling he already knew the answer to it.

"Well, they saved me; I didn't do much to the vampire." Hana said blushing embarrassed at her capture.

"Well regardless I am sorry to say that you have not stopped the earth from rotting." He said with his head hung low.

"We know, but we cannot advance until we find a way beyond the door in the earth cavern, I know the earth crystal is beyond there and the true cause of the rotting earth." Once Kent was done the old man nodded with a big smile.

"You know much young man; I suspect you are the leader?"

"Why yes I am."

"Oh brother." Alice said shaking her head, "Can we not inflate his ego please."

"In order to pass the barrier that blocks your way I'm going to give you a mystical rod that can dispel magical barriers." He held out a long silver rod and held it out to Kent who took it and held it up but nothing happened, "I'm sorry to say only one who can use magic can use the rods power."

"Then I'll take that." Alice said snatching the rod from his hand, she raised it up but nothing happened for her as well, "Is this thing broken?"

"Maybe you just stink at magic." Kent said grumbling, unfortunately for him Alice was listening and Hana was right, it really does make a bonk sound when you hit someone with a staff.

"Fine! Didn't want to use it anyway." She tossed the staff into the air and Hana dived forward catching it.

"My turn I guess." She held up the staff standing on her tippy toes and a large wave blasted in a circular pattern of magic.

"She can use it though?"

"Don't feel bad Alice, you can use a katana while she can't." I said patting her on the head.

"Still…"

"With that staff, I wish you luck in saving our world from the forces determined to destroy it." With that he waved us off as we left the cave.

"…Let me try that staff again."

We hurried to the cave eager to try out the staff but ended up on the short end of a stick of intense trouble; every time we entered the cave it felt like the monsters had doubled or in this case tripled in number and strength, even with our new style of fighting I had to bust out my second blade on more than one occasion to just take care of one layer of enemies.

"You know as much as I love the combat I think this cave is out to kill us every time we show up." Gareth said as we fought back to back, "You know what I mean?"

"Definitely not the best situation to be in." An ogre came in swinging his fist but gave me time to get ready for him; dodge, strike, block and counter! As another ogre came to take its place I turned to Gareth to see him start to pant heavily, "Need to switch out?"

"No…I go this…only a few more."

"Pace yourself Gareth, we don't need you dying."

"As long as you fight, I fight to Soren!" Gareth blocked a wolf bite and slammed his axe down cleaving the beast in half.

"Then I think it's time we took the plunge. Alice, Lissa!" They turned to me after striking down the imps, "We're going to charge through them!" They nodded and relayed the information to the two WOLs.

"So hack and slack through them?" Gareth asked.

"I don't think that will work." I replied looking at the mob in front of us; it was too massive for us to hack through them in a group…maybe in a line but even if four of us do that then it still leaves a good group of them in our way…got it.

"Everyone line up! When you feel tired switch to the back of the line! Alice in front followed by Kent, Lissa then me, Gareth and Hana; move quickly!" Getting in to formation we charged forward as Alice dispatched of the monsters in her way one by one getting through about a fourth of the path before showing signs of panting and heaving in exhaustion. She switched out moving to the back as Kent started blocking and retaliating against the monsters; sadly his basic style on got rid of a fifth of them before he started to tire. Switching out Lissa started swinging widely taking out row after row of monster; unfortunately those wide swings didn't help us advance through the group at a great pace only taking out about a sixth of the hoard; my turn! Lissa moved to the back and I pulled out my blades hacking two down every second at first but as I grew wearier it turned from two a second into one a second, one every two seconds and then one every three second. I switched out and let Gareth in front as I headed to the back of the line; as I watched him he seemed to move slower than the others, his style has him remain stationary so moving around while fighting might be a bit foreign to him. He started to pant and wheeze so it was about time for him to switch and let Hana finish off and get us through the path…what is he doing? He kept going and I saw him start to take hits from the enemies around him; move out Gareth, don't be…a…hero…oh hell! I jumped to the front and started blocking hits as he kept attacking, "Gareth pull back, you're going to get hurt if you don't pace yourself!"

"No, I can do this!" He said continuing to attack them, "This is my chance to get stronger!"

"Why? I thought you didn't care about strength anymore?"

"How can I protect my friends if I'm weak?!" Damnit, now is not the time to have a mental breakdown Gareth; I pulled Gareth with all my strength and moved behind Hana, "Hana, now!'

"Got it!" She held her staff forward at the line of monsters, "Firaga!" A blast of powerful flames shot from her staff scorching the monsters making a clear line to the stairs.

"Everyone run!" We charged at the stairs and flew down as fast as we could making it to the second floor.

Everyone took the chance and took a break each panting, wheezing and huffing in their own form, some of them more than other…Gareth most of all; what got in to him back there, that's the first time I've seen him like that…then again that was the first mob we encountered and fought that hard against.

"Gareth, would you mind explaining your sudden weirdness back there?" I asked as he started to recover, "I've seen you take risky moves before but that one was weird even for you."

"You've take riskier."

"Still, what's go you acting weird?" He looked down before answering.

"You remember Damien?"

"Yeah, what about him?"

"…He ticks me off…and I mean REALLY ticks me off. From the three times I've fought him he's treated me like second fiddle, lesser and weaker. It wouldn't be a problem but whenever I come upon powerful monsters or hoards all I see is Damien looking at me…no not at me, over me…at you." So he's feeling second fiddle.

"Look if it makes you feel better, we're a team, the only reason we won that last fight with him is because you and Alice stopped him from dealing the final hit."

"Sorry Soren but it doesn't help…especially since I lost to you on the boat yesterday, I feel…weak. I want to get stronger; if I don't then I won't feel like I can help you guys."

"Don't talk like that!" We both looked at Lissa in shock, she sounded really worried there, "Sorry…it's just that every traveler that the boss recruited has said they want power at some point during their travels…even you three." She was right, all of us have felt weak and wanted power at some point and that's when he strikes; seems power would be our downfall, "Gareth, I can promise you that you're better than Damien for one good reason."

"Really, what reason is that? Because I sure don't see it."

"You aren't blinded by power and you still have morals."

"What?"

"I knew Damien for a few weeks and something became worse about him everytime I interacted with him. It wasn't just the shapeshifter that changed him, he became…obsessed with power." Obsessed?

"What do you mean? How was he obsessed?"

"Whenever he wasn't on a mission or sleeping he would train and his style matched his obsession. His movements became more savage; he exchanged form for speed and power and he would fight lower to the ground, usually taking a practice dummies legs off and then ripping it apart from there."

"Sounds like he completely lost it." I said.

"No, he was still cold and deceiving but his powers seem to increase exponentially with every mission he completed…there's something more to that shapeshifter than I think he even realizes…but it affects his mind terribly. He's almost killed other travelers in sparring and if it weren't for the boss they might be dead."

"…His power drove him mad?"

"Completely insane is more like it." Alice added in, "But what does this have to do with Gareth? He's not a shapeshifter?"

"No but I became cocky before I was taken over…that's why I was taken over…you may not have something inside you but greed can turn someone into their own worst monster…so be careful Gareth. Don't let power consume you unless you want to end up like Damien." Gareth's had a small look of shock on it before he looked down.

"All right, I'll pace myself…thanks Lissa. I don't want to end up like Damien at all."

"Good."

"You guys ready?" We all turned to see Kent and Hana were ready to move on; looks like they didn't hear our conversation…probably good considering our situation.

"Hey Lissa." She turned back to me, "That part about greed turning you into your own worst demon was really good, you come up with that?"

"Nope, I read it in a book."

"You read?" Alice asked surprised.

"It's one of my favorite pass times." She replied with a big smile.

"Interesting, recommend any good books?" Lissa's eyes lit up when Alice asked that question.

"Where to start!? Well I woul-"

"When we get back, for now let's focus on the task at hand." Alice said covering her mouth.

"You two are getting along well." I whispered as we traveled across the second floor.

"Well…I'm giving her a chance like you wanted."

"More than a chance at this point."

"Shut up…she's better than I expected though, a little shy but…that's kind of nice. I did notice the difference between Hyrule and now Lissa though…it's like two different people." She was seeing the difference like I was, "She said she had been given succubus powers right?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"What if that succubus took over when we met her?" The succubus…that would make sense, if it took over it would explain why they had such differences to their gaze.

"That stills begs the question of why she changed back."

"We're going to have to ask her then. Keep it in the back of your brain for now." With that we stopped talking about it and followed Kent as we moved from the second floor to the third; the third floor was still empty…but know that I think about the second floor was empty as well. It was like whoever was behind the monsters sent all their forces to the first floor; if that's true then all we have to do is take care of the last guy who was protecting the earth crystal. We approached the metal door from before and Hana stepped forward raising the staff as the circular blast emanated from her, when it hit the door the metal melted away until it was a small pile in the doorway and it then turned to sand combining with the floor.

"Quality staff." Gareth said impressed. As he said that the silver started to crack apart before our eyes; the cracks formed more cracks and soon it turned to dust that blew out of Hana's hands.

"Not so quality anymore." Alice said snickering.

"Let's keep moving, we're almost there." Kent said looking more excited by the second, once we activated the earth crystal we would actually be making progress; it feels like it's taken too long to get this far…but once we get this done we'll have a step in the door. We traveled down the stairs and passed through the fourth floor with ease; looks like I was right about them putting all their eggs in one basket. As we moved into the fifth floor I felt a chill go down my spine and my heart sink into my stomach; something sinister was on this floor and it wasn't a normal monster…or even a powerful person, it was something…beyond the realm of life and death. We didn't encounter a single monster as we moved but that made the tension intensify and I could feel the cold chill get stronger; something was trying to tell me to turn back and never return…but I can't stop here! I looked over at Kent to see a look of determination on his face, he could feel it to but he ignored that feeling and kept moving; looking back at everyone they didn't look as fazed as we were…maybe it's because we were confident that they felt confident. So it's true…a leader does inspire others…and Kent was definitely filling that role. We came to a large door that seemed to radiate with a dark aura, whatever was beyond here was powerful; we weren't giving up here though! I gave it a push to find it wouldn't budge with my strength alone; everyone gathered in and we pushed with everything we had as it screeched and creaked opening up to our combined strength. As the doors opened we all took a look to see a robbed figure with a cold aura emanating from its body point its bony finger at us and breathe a dry breath.

"You shall not bring the earth back to life!" When I got a better look at its face there was nothing but bone and its eyes were a bright sinister yellow. Kent stepped forward and drew his sword and shield.

"Evil Lich you shall not deny our world any longer the earth will return!" He cackled and rattled with laughter as he said that.

"Give it your best shot Warriors of Light! I am the master of death, you shall die here!" Drawing my blades as everyone else did the same I readied for the battle to bring the earth crystal back to life, we wouldn't fail here!

Alice, Gareth and I charged forward with Kent as Lissa and Hana stood on support firing light and fire spells at the lich as he moved from side to side dodging every move with ease; we all took a different side of him as we tried to hit him with our attacks but the ones that didn't go through him he was able to dodge and retaliate knocking us all back and firing dark spells at us.

"Nothings working!" Alice exclaimed standing back up.

"He's undead, we need light and fire spells." Kent pointed out.

"They've been throwing those at him but he just keeps dodging them." Gareth added.

"Then we're going to need to distract him so he can't dodge the spells."

"How? Our attacks just go through him." Alice said.

"I've got it!" I exclaimed, "Lissa, coat Kent's and my weapon in a light spell! Hana, fire for Alice and Gareth!" They gave a nod and we watched as our weapons attained their designated element, "That should make him scared." We rushed him again and swung at him trying to catch him off guard but he changed his tactics and now instead of just dodging he also blocked moves and swung at them pushing the attacker back; we still couldn't get a hit in on him! As I tried to strike at him he grabbed my right blade with one hand and gripped my face with the other and I felt my strength start to fade as he held, he was draining my life away by the second! I felt myself drop as an axe of fire went through his hand dropping me; a hand grabbed me and pulled me backwards as I coughed and hacked feeling much weaker than I did a few seconds ago.

"You okay Soren?" Kent asked, I looked to see Alice had dragged me away while Gareth had freed me from the Lich's grip; I tried to stand but my legs couldn't support me as much as I tried.

"All right you switch out with Lissa for now." Alice said as she pushed me next to Hana as Lissa jumped in; as they tried to damage the Lich I downed a potion feeling my strength return to me and stood back up ready to keep fighting. As I watched the fight it seemed like the Lich was moving too fast for anyone to hit him and any attack that did land would be blocked; it was an issue of sped as well as power and we didn't have enough of either…time to work some magic! I pulled out an ether ready to down it the instant I use a spell, "Hana, cast haste on everyone." She looked confused for a second then nodded beginning her spell; I started to cast temper on everyone to raise their power and with every spell I had to take an ether before I passed out but with every instant I could see Jarek giving a sinister grin with every stumble, not if I could help it! (Can you?) Once I finished my last temper I downed two ethers just in case; have to be careful, those were my last ethers; Everyone was now moving faster and landing blows that connected and caused the Lich considerable damage. I looked over to see Hana was exhausted from casting those spells so we weren't going to be able to land any spells on him, "Lissa, switch!" She back stepped as I charged forward catching the lich off guard and stabbing him directly in the torso with both blades, "Use Dia!" Lissa shot a light spell that blinded the lich and I saw the moment to strike…but not for me, "Kent!"

"Right!" With a swift motion he sliced across the Lich's neck tearing his head from his body; in that instant the Lich fell apart turning to dust with the only thing left being the tattered cloak he wore and a pile of gray ash.

We had defeated the first of the four fiends, the undead king known as the lich was slain and turned to ash; he was much more skilled than I expected him to be and he seemed to be holding back against us; from what I remember he had fire and ice spells at his disposal but he never even used them against us…something was definitely off.

"We…we did it!" Kent exclaimed unable to believe his own words; it was like watching a kid on Christmas, he was ecstatic and hopping around while everyone else, myself included, was taking a small break from the intense battle we just had with the lich. Now we could awaken the earth crystal and bring the earth back to life; we would be one step closer to saving this world and bring the evil that grasps it to a grinding halt. We all stood up as Kent held the orb up and resonated with the earth crystal; the light shined brightly blinding us all, it was a light brighter than any other and came par with the triforce light. When it died we stood there and looked up at the earth crystal as it was now radiant and shining with a yellow light that felt warming and inviting; it felt like the dirt of the earth would surround me and keep me warm and safe in my fertile home.

"The earth crystal is lit." Hana said with a smile on her face, "We did it! I was kind of worried when we weren't hitting the lich but then Soren had us use those spells and we totally kicked his butt! It was awesome, I wonder if-" Alice put her hand over Hana's mouth and sighed.

"Let's save the chatter for when we get back to town, I'm beat."

"Same." Gareth said rubbing his arm.

"I could use a bath." Lissa said with a chuckle. Looking over everyone I could see different bumps and bruises as well as claw marks and slashes, I think resting was a good idea…for me to.

"All right then, let's head back to town and take a break, we can heal up and be ready for whatever comes next!" Everyone gave a nod and I turned to Kent who was still focused on the crystal, "That okay with you Kent?" He turned to me and then checked himself chuckling.

"Yeah, I think we could all use some rest, even me." Good; we all headed for the surface ready to relax and heal up so we could be ready for tomorrow when we would go for the next crystal!


	10. Chapter 10

The boat creaked and moaned as Gareth, Kent, Alice and I rowed on our way to Crescent Lake; Kent said that in order to get to the island where the volcano is we were going to need a small boat to traverse lakes and hopefully the town would sell boats to get us through the area. As we rowed I looked to see the wood around the boat was beginning to rot and splinter letting water in to the lower area; we've been keeping up on maintaining the boat so why was it now falling apart?

"Hey guys?" I said getting the others attention, "Should we be worried about the water leaking into the boat?" I turned everyone's attention to the leaks currently letting in water and they all gave a look of small worry.

"It must be the rotting sea." Kent said trying to explain the sudden decay, "With the water crystal unavailable the sea waters are turning rotten and destroying boats that travel them."

"And you decided now to tell us this!" Alice yelled pissed at just learning this crucial fact.

"That must be why those pirates were raiding that town." Gareth said thinking as the water slowly rose to his knees; looking down I saw the same was happening around me, "Anyone else have wet legs?"

"We should get out of here, now!" We all abandoned the lower area heading for the main deck on top; when we got to the top I looked up to see Lissa was currently in the crow's nest and Hana was dispatching some of the monsters that had gotten onboard, out the side of the boat I could see we were approaching a dock near a cresent shaped lake with a small town in the center. I looked down to see the boat was slowly sinking into the murky water; I'm guessing we didn't want that water to touch our skin; looking back at everyone I saw as Gareth and Kent had moved to the front trying to measure the distance and I'm guessing they were going to swim for it, "Stop guys, the water is rotting the wood, I don't think we want to know what happens to our skin." They stopped, backing up from the head of the boat; looking over I watched as Alice climbed up to the crow's nest hastily with a scared look on her face, that right she can't swim; she has the right idea though, "This way!" I motioned to the crow's nest and everyone headed for it hastily; the first one to go up was Gareth and the Kent followed by Hana, once Hana was far enough up the ladder I climbed on as the deck was almost consumed by the water. Luckily the boat still had some momentum as it headed for the dock but at this rate we wouldn't make it before the boat was completely underwater and we were six feet under! As I climbed into the crow's nest I noticed that the sails had unfurled and were completely open; rope must have broken…wait that's it, "Does anyone know a wind spell?"

"I did find an old air tome at the magic shop; I haven't had a chance to read it though." She said pulling out a worn tome.

"Hope you can read fast because I need you to cast it on those sails and fast!"

"We can't use actual wind power so we'll just use magic wind!" Hana said coming to my realization. I looked down to see the entire deck was now under dark murky possibly poisonous water.

"Lissa?"

"Hang on; I think I have the basics down." She quickly closed the book and shoved it into her bag, as she pulled her hands out another book fell out but she was too focus to notice; I picked it up catching a glance at the cover, 'beastiary' she had a record of monsters on her? I looked to see she was trying to cause a gust of wind; she breathed deeply with her eyes closed before extending her hand softly, "Aero!" As she exclaimed those words I could feel a strong wind push us and watched as the sails shot forward catching the wind and pushing us forward closer to the docks as the sails disintegrated as they touched the water; come on! There was suddenly a jerking halt as we came just to the dock; the boat must have hit the earth in the water, as it sank I took a look and if we jumped we could make it but our legs would shatter on impact.

"Everyone jump and roll!" Everyone gave me a nod and they all jumped onto the land; jumping forward I tucked into a roll and rolled along the grass landing on my back relieved that my legs were intact. I looked up at the boat to see Hana hadn't jumped yet and had a pensive and fearful look on her face; she was wearing a dress, she couldn't roll! As the post began to sink it I looked at it and turned to Alice, "Blast the post!" She hastily shot a blast of fire and it burned the wood away leaving a sliver left of where she hit; the post fell forward as the crow's nest came crashing down, "Jump!" Hana jumped and I scrambled catching her sending us tumbling into the ground as the post hit the earth and then fell backwards into the sea disappearing.

"Whew…everyone okay?" Alice asked with a relieved sigh at which everyone nodded in response, "Good…but now we have a bigger problem."

"Yeah, now we're stuck on land with no way around the world." Kent said with a look of deep thought stuck on his face.

"We're not getting a boat again that's for sure!" Gareth said dusting himself off, "The water is way too dangerous to cross."

"At least sea water is." Lissa added, "Until we fix the water crystal we can't travel the seas. I also don't think we can get our hands on another ship anytime soon." She was right about that, a ship wasn't going to be easy to come across and a dingy ship would be destroyed by the monsters swarming the sea, unfortunately they were immune to the poison water which made our job much harder on too many levels to count.

"Um…would you mind getting up?" I looked down to see I was over Hana currently and got up dusting my coat off as she got up dusting her dress off, "How chivalrous of you to catch me Soren, my knight in shining armor." She gave me a smile and giggled making me blush at the strange compliment.

"Tch…shameless flirt!" Alice said annoyed as she pushed me over to the main group, "Come on, we're on land so let's head for crescent lake." She pushed me forcefully getting us to move towa- ow! Did she just pinch me in th- ow! Again!? Ow!

We approached the small town and I was surprised to find it was even smaller than we thought it was; every shop was connected by the same road and the inn was one of the first buildings you would see when you enter the town with the item shop next to it and a church a few feet from the inn. With how small the town looked it was amazing to enter the shops and see high level weapons and magic on the shelves; every weapon was mythril quality and I think I even saw a death spell in the black magic shop.

"This is a game changer." Alice said with a strange smile on her face.

"You really think you need it?" I asked and she shrugged.

"You never know when we might need a spell to completely get rid of an enemy." As she said that Lissa pulled the book off of the shelf and read the inside.

"Only kills those who the caster truly considers an enemy."

"That's oddly specific." Alice said skeptical.

"I'm guessing it was the cause of either a break up or bitter divorce." I said with a chuckle; we all turned to the clerk who had a pissed off look on her face.

"Trying to use a death spell on me in an argument, you better believe I dumped his sorry ass." We all gave each other an awkward look and decided to just grab the spells and head out to meet up with Gareth, Kent and Hana near the equipment shops. When we approached the weapon shop all three of them came out with Gareth in patches of armor covering various parts of his body.

"Like my new armor?" He asked polishing his right shoulder plate.

"It's less than half of the actual armor, as far as I'm concerned you have nothing on!" Kent said poking his unprotected left arm.

"What is your obsession with bits of armor?" I asked remembering his last outfit in the Mushroom Kingdom.

"It protects vital areas and keeps my mobility high."

"No it doesn't, you desecrate the good integrity of metalsmiths the way you wear your armor!" Kent yelled pent up.

"You're really passionate about armor aren't you?" Lissa asked obviously amazed at his outburst.

"Armor is a necessity when you're a warrior; unless you're a mage or black belt you always need armor." He replied with a hint of proudness in his speech, "Which is why I'm disappointed in you two!" He pointed to me and Gareth; me!?

"Me!? Why me!?"

"You can't use magic and your skill with two blades and even one blade is sub-par, your speed is decent but armor would still increase how useful you become on the battle field. Yet you insist on fighting in that tattered black cloak." I looked at my coat to see the ends were slightly burnt and there were holes in a few areas; guess I needed a repair.

"I enjoy my mobility, it makes it easier to block and dodge hits. Gareth can you do a patch job on this for me?" I asked handing my coat to him.

"Patch job? What do you take me for? It'll look brand new when I'm done." Gareth said boasting his skill, his skill was on par with what he boasted though, and after all he was in girl scouts, "Why are you chuckling?"

"No reason. Anyway did anyone find a small boat?" Everyone shook their heads; thought so, where were we going to find a boat to take us through the rivers here, it seems like were up a creek without a paddle…or a canoe.

"I did hear about a group of elders that live in this town, maybe they could help us out." Lissa pointed out.

"Where are they?" Hana asked.

"They're on the outskirts, on a path behind the magic shops."

"Really? The town is so small you wouldn't even notice it." She was right about that, this town could fit into the palm of a giant; noticing any path hidden path would be pretty difficult as every inch of the town was packed. We moved in between the two shops and to the right was a bridge leading into a wooded thicket; walking along it the silence set in as we moved further into the woods. The woods suddenly separated into a large circular area and in that area were twelve elderly men all sitting in a circle and all with peaceful looks on their faces. The strangest part was that we could feel the wind blow around us; the wind should still be dead as long as the wind crystal is inactive, it was like this area is outside the laws of the world…or is the only area still in full effect of the laws.

"You must be the Warriors of Light." One man stood up and turned to us and then to Kent and Hana, "Well two of you. You've done well to make it this far and even more to bring these ones as well." He motioned to Alice, Gareth, Lissa and I, "I am to assume that you do not belong to this world?" What!?

"How did you know?"

"We've lived long boy and in that time we've tapped into the multiple dimensional possibilities that exist for our world. For some there have been times where we never meet the warriors of light, sometimes on their own and in some rare cases they are accompanied by one more with something unique to them."

"What?"

"They don't exist in any other dimensional possibility. Out of the millions of possibilities the unique extra only exist in one possibility, they may be different with each we see but we never see them again." Travelers only exist in one universe…but the theory says that every choice we make opens a multitude of alternate universes; it's impossible for anyone to defy those rules, if the law works here then every choice a traveler makes should open a massive amount of universes…does that mean travelers exist outside the laws of the universe…or is there something more to it?

"There is one I have seen multiple times though."

"Who?"

"A man is a cloak covered from head to toe."

"The boss!?" Lissa said shocked.

"He's been here before!?" Alice asked surprised at the news we received.

"How can he do that?" Gareth asked, "For that matter how can he travel from world to world?" We turned to Lissa who looked flustered.

"I-I don't know, in the time I spent there I never understood how he was able to move from world to world seamlessly. It never made sense to me." She looked down sadly as she said that. This was just getting stranger; we know now that travelers exist in only one universe per world and that the cloaked guy can travel to worlds and universes on his own as many times as he pleases, but know the question becomes why travelers only exist in one universe and why the cloaked guy can travel as he pleases. No matter how much I learn about our circumstance there are always more questions without answers; at this rate my head was going to explode!

"Calm down Soren." Alice said putting her hand on my shoulder, "Remember, when we finish this up we get all our questions answered."

"Just stop worrying about it for now." Gareth added in.

"You're only going to hurt yourself worrying about it right now." Lissa said, "I'm not sure what you three are talking about but right now we have to keep moving forward okay?"

"Thanks guys, I'll try not to think about it so much, can't make any promises though."

"If I catch you freaking about it again then I get to hit you, deal?" Alice said raising her fist.

"Deal…and thanks."

"What are friends for?" She giggled as she said that and I chuckled back.

"Ahem!" We all turned to Kent and Hana who each had a different expression with Hana looking confused and Kent looking pissed, "Mind explaining it to us!?" The old man raised his hand and moved over to the two of them.

"Like the rest I must do this, the less you know the better." He threw a strange powder in their face and it sprinkled as the flailed, "That should get rid of their memory of your little talk, I'd be careful with future conversations though." He did that to protect us…but protect us from what?

"Why did you do that?"

"Everyone has their reasons for what they do and for the task you four are to face it is better if those who travel this world know as little as possible." Even though he said that I felt a little wrong deceiving the people we were traveling with, it felt…wrong to me.

"I suppose with what happens at the end it is better if they don't know." Gareth said, "We just ghost through these worlds anyway."

"Really?"

"It's the safest way actually." Alice said, "If they knew that people from other world could invade then it would cause tension and fear to run throughout the world, we would be destroying the world by telling them of this possibility." She was right, if I was told that I could be attacked by someone from another world before all this then I would live with fear and dread at the possibility for the rest of my life.

"I guess…still…."

"It might feel wrong but we don't have a choice." Lissa said, "Every world the boss touched became worse because they knew of his power. In order to protect this world we have to keep it a secret." It doesn't feel right but if we have to then…I guess I don't have a choice.

After Kent and Hana came back to their senses one of the elders gave us a canoe to help us in our travels; with that canoe we could move through the rivers around the area and hopefully make our way to the volcano where the fire crystal was. Unfortunately for us the canoe could only hold four people in it at once which meant two of us would have to wait behind at town while the other four headed for the crystal. We decided that Lissa would come as she was the only one who knew white magic and Kent would go so he could protect the mages of the group with his armor, Gareth was also going as an extra attacker which meant it came down to either Alice or Hana to go while the other waited in town with me.

"I think Alice should go." Kent said, "She has good fighting skills and black magic that can be added to weapons unlike Hana who can only cast powerful spells."

"So you want usability over strength?" Lissa asked.

"Yep, it helps to make the party stronger instead of blast apart the enemy."

"Blasting apart seems like a winner to me." Gareth said with a chuckle, "I vote Hana."

"I don't mind staying." Hana answered, "It gives me time to get to know Soren better." As she said that she scooted closer to me; what was she doing?

"I think I need to stay, you guys can get back quicker if you blast them apart anyway." Alice said glaring at Hana as she moved next to me.

"I don't mind either of them." Lissa said obviously trying not to ruffle any feathers, "What about you Soren?"

"Me!?" Don't throw me under the bus Lissa!

"Yeah Soren, who should stay here with you?" Alice asked with a hint of hostility in her voice; I was dead meat if I answered wrong, I could feel it.

"Um…how about…rock-paper-scissors?" She gave me a glare and turned to Hana.

"Alright then! Ready Hana?"

"Ready!" Whew; dodged that bullet…or at least just took it in the shoulder.

 **Gareth**

"See you guys in a bit." Soren said with a wave, Alice also gave a wave to with a smile on her face; despite losing rock-paper-scissors she looked okay with it, well at least we have Hana with us, "Oh I almost forgot." Soren pulled out a book from his bag and handed it to Lissa who gave a small gasp, "You dropped this in the crow's nest." I looked over her shoulder to see a book with the words 'beastiary' on the cover; what was it?

"My book! Thanks a lot, I was wondering where this went when we crashed!" Lissa said excited.

"What is it?" I asked honestly confused, I had never seen a book like that before.

"It's a book with a record of monsters and 'beast' hence the name 'beastiary' Gareth." Soren explained, that makes sense; I've only read tattered fable books at the orphanage so I've never come across a book like this…but is I had to guess then I'd say this book is exclusive to video games.

"Where did you pick up that gem Lissa?"

"Oh…I didn't buy it. It's my own personal copy." Really, she made that book?

"Mind if I take a look?"

"I don't know…it's not complete yet."

"It's got to have some useful stuff in it though."

"…Okay then." She handed me the book and I flipped through the pages; each monster had and illustration on one page and a description on the other, the description were long and over descriptive with their color preferences and combat strategy and the area where they show up and- ohhhh my head kind of hurts.

"Careful Gareth." Alice said pulling the book from me and flipping through the pages, "There is an abundance of information, some of these things I didn't even notice before. How did you keep track of all this?"

"When I fight an enemy I take notice of what I can in the tide of battle."

"Still, there's stuff here about the Lich I don't think any of us even took notice of at all; his tendency to block or dodge is even on here! This is amazing!"

"You can keep track of those things?" Usually I just work through the tendencies but her book makes it sound like she could think up a whole new strategy.

"Well…my eye can catch things that others dismiss or notice and I have a secret obsession for keeping records, it was a way for me to keep my head from being filled with all this info and soon turned into something I really love to do." Really?

"That's pretty cool. To keep track of all that info is something but to be able to make a good sketch and description is really amazing." As I said that she looked away with a hint of pink forming on her cheeks.

"Well…thanks Gareth…that means a lot."

"I think we're all set." Kent said as he picked up an ore, "Gareth you and me are paddling while Hana and Lissa direct us."

"Sounds good to me." I replied catching the paddle he tossed at me, "See you two later." With that Soren saluted us off as Alice waved goodbye. We crossed the threshold into the mountainous area where the only travel was by river; Hana had us going all over the place as she seemed to contradict herself with where she pointed until we ended up in a dead ended area of land.

"Hana, are you sure you have a good sense of direction?" I asked confused at where we were because it sure wasn't a volcano!

"Well…maybe I don't have a perfect sense of direction."

"We circled the same mountain four times." Lisa pointed out.

"I knew that was the same mountain!" Kent said a little peeved at Hana; if she was this bad at direction I better not let Alice lead us ever. I looked around and noticed a small opening near where we got off; I approached the opening of the cave and as I stood there I could feel a cold breeze blow through me from the opening, the inside must be below freezing if I'm shivering from just the entrance.

"That chill." I jumped as Hana was next to me suddenly; how did she do that, "I think this is the Cavern of Ice Kent!"

"The Cavern of Ice!? I thought that was just a myth?" He approached us with Lissa behind him and we all stood at the entrance feeling the cold breeze emanate from the opening, "It's definetly as cold as they say it is."

"What's in there?" I asked a bit excited at the idea of a legendary area; this is the rush of a lifetime!

"Apparently the Levistone, an item said to make it possible for you to soar through the sky like a bird." There's an item that would allow us to fly? That's awesome, with it we wouldn't need the boat, we could just fly all over the land!

"I say we go for it!" I said ready to dive into the cold opening.

"We have to activate the fire crystal first!" Kent said grabbing me by my collar before I could even get in, "Besides they say that the cold inside the cave is too cold for any human to withstand!"

"We're not ordinary though, we have a fire specialist with us." I replied pointing to Hana who waved.

"That doesn't mean we should just blindly go in!"

"We need a new form of transportation and who knows when we'll get this chance again!"

"Gareth, pace yourself remember?" Lissa said trying to calm me, I wasn't going to be swayed on this matter though; I had to take the plung!

"I'm going in, anyone following?"

"Damnit fine!" Kent said walking in front of me, "But just because we need the power on our adventure!" He loved it, I could just feel it.

The inside was much colder than the doorway let on but with Hana's fire spell and Lissa's nulfrost spell we were able to avoid frostbite and keep moving. The cave was pretty standard with monsters popping up from different areas and traps being laid out in areas with chest and treasure but soon we came upon a room with cracked ice lining the floor in different patches. In the center of the room was a floating stone and behind it was a strange giant red orb; as I tried to approach it Lissa stopped me and pointed to the patches taking her scythe and poking the holes open so we wouldn't fall into them. As we approached the strange shaped stone I heard a long exhale and felt the hair on my neck stand on end; something was about to attack! I jumped backwards over the whole as a giant head with one eye appeared out of nowhere; as I jumped back I landed on ice and my feet slipped out from under me sending me crashing to the ground.

"This entire room is lined with ice, don't move too much or too fast and you should be fine!" Kent explained as he pulled out his sword and shield; standing up I pulled out my battle axe as Hana pulled out her staff and Lissa readied her scythe. The head shot ice blasts at us as I blocked and Kent used his shield, Lissa slid to the side using the ice to her advantage and Hana shot retaliating fire spells canceling its spell; I jumped forward and swung trying to cleave the skull as it produced an ice shield. As the shield broke the icicles that formed honed in on me making me spin my axe to block what I could; two of the needled pierced my defense and struck knocking me backwards into Lissa who slid again and made me crash into the far wall.

"Sorry Gareth."

"It's okay, just keep fighting!" I stood up and watched as Kent got closer and aimed for the eye as it created another barrier of ice which knocked Kent back as well; this thing was smarter than I thought!

"Gareth, go for one side, Lissa go for the back and Hana aim for the other side!" Kent yelled obviously ready to execute a plan; Soren's plans aren't half-bad so I'll give him a chance. I moved and aimed for his right as Hana aligned herself on his left and Lissa got into position near his back; we all moved in attacking all at once as he created three different shields, as he maintained this Kent moved in and thrusted with his blade directly into the large eye. There was no loud shriek but just a sudden loss of concentration letting all of our attacks connect destroying the creature and sending it down one of the many ice holes, "Good job everyone, I think we found the Levistone." Kent moved forward and grabbed the floating stone but as he did that the red orb behind it began to fade away leaving a figure that fell to the ground with a thud; hastily shoving the stone in his bag Kent moved over to the figure as we gathered around it to see who it was. He was African American by his complexion and had a strong body, his face looked familiar to me and he seemed familiar, "It's Pent!" Another WOL?

"He looks like Gareth." I took a second look and realized Lissa was right, his face looked exactly like mine; that's why he looked so familiar…I've got to wonder why so far three of the WOLs look exactly like me, Alice and Soren though.

"We should get him back to town first; it's not very good to be unconscious in a place this cold." We hurried back and as I followed behind I had to wonder a few things. Was it coincidence that the WOLs look like us? We saw the face of the last one and she doesn't look like Lissa; who could she be then and where is her earth counterpart? Lastly, how are we going to fit five people into the canoe?


	11. Chapter 11

Alice and I waited at the river's edge for the group to get back and lied back on the grass enjoying the sunshine and calm sound of flowing water.

"Ah…I love this." Alice said stretching out, "This was one of the best parts of my time outside as a kid."

"Didn't you get hospitalized when you were 7?"

"Yeah but my time outside is so vivid in my mind that I never forgot about every second spent outside."

"…What are you going to do when this is all over?"

"What? Where did that question come from?"

"It's just…I've only known you for about three months but after everything that's happened it feels weird to not know what you're going to do once the adventure ends."

"We've been on three adventures and it will probably end up for me the same way each adventure ends; with me sitting in the hospital room and you visiting me every day."

"Right…every day."

"Something wrong?"

"Alice, my birthday is coming up…and when I turn eighteen I'm going to California."

"What!?" She pulled herself off the grass and gave me a look of shock, "Why are you going to California? The only thing there is failed script writers and corporate Disney zombies!"

"My mom wants to head back to her home town; it's where most of my family lives."

"So why are you headed back, that's what your mom wants, what do you want?"

"I…I don't know." Honestly I've never given much thought to what I want to do with my life, "I always just move with the tide of life."

"The tide of life?"

"Wherever life takes me is where I go."

"It doesn't sound like you're going with life's tide; it sounds like you just getting swept up in everyone else's lives." What she said might be true but I've always lived to help others and never really thought about my own life, "What about your tide? Where do you surf your tide to?"

"My tide?"

"You have a tide so surf it…and don't go to California!" She yelled socking me in the knee.

"OW! Why do you care so much?"

"Because you're my best friend, my first real friend in years and I don't want to lose you." She said her face turning redder with every word, "I'll probably be stuck in that bed for years and I don't want to wake up and realize that no one is going to show up."

"What about Gareth?"

"Well…he's going to be busy when he leaves the orphanage."

"He's leaving his orphanage?"

"When he turns eighteen they're going to kick him out of the orphanage, keep up Soren. He'll be considered an adult by the state which means he's no longer classified as an orphan. Knowing him he's going to be working towards a home or apartment which means…I'm going to be alone again." She looked away and I heard a slight sniffle, "I don't want to be alone again. It's okay that you get sept up in other people's tides but how about getting swept up in mine."

"Alice…"

"At least until I can walk again…okay?"

"…Okay." She looked back with a pissed off look on her face.

"I don't want you breaking this okay? If you do I will hunt you down and slap you so hard that anyone you meet for the rest of your life will ask why you have a red handprint on your face."

"Okay."

"And this won't be a normal slap, when they put your corpse in the ground that print will last even on your skeleton." I laughed and she gave me a cocked eyebrow.

"I promise that I will not leave you."

"Thanks." After that we went back to lying down on the grass peacefully.

"…You never answered my question."

"I'd like to be a traveler or archeologist, something that has me exploring and finding new places and just experiencing everything I can." So she wants to travel…it's a pretty great thing to want to do with your life.

"What about you?"

"Well…I'm not sure, I've never had a strong interest in anything I learned at school and most careers were a bit boring in my mind."

"Well…maybe you could travel…with me." What did she just say?

"What?"

"We're back!" We both shot up as the canoe came in with Gareth, Hana, Lissa and Kent carrying Gareth…wait what? Kent was carrying another person who looked exactly like Gareth except dressed in very thin clothing and his muscles looked much beefier than Gareth's were and he had more strength than me or Alice.

"So…we found him." Lissa said pointing to Gareth's clone currently being dropped onto the grass by us, "He was in the ice cavern behind the levistone."

"Levistone?" I asked and Hana pulled out a small diamond stone that seemed to float in her hand as she held it…no it DID float in her hand and rotated slowly, "What is this for?"

"Apparently with this we should be able to fly." Gareth said poking the stone, "Didn't work though."

"Yeah." Hana said giggling, "Gareth held the stone in his hand and jumped into the sky trying to fly but ended up crashing into the ground face first."

"Really?" Alice and I started busting up laughing as a light pink of embarrassment came over Gareth's face.

"It's supposed to make you fly right!? Well it wasn't able to at all!" Gareth replied with a hint of anger in his voice, "Why did we risk our lives for this!?"

"You wanted to go in." Lissa said prompting Gareth to cover her mouth.

"Some things don't need to be said Lissa." I moved over to Kent to see he was trying to wake up the Gareth lookalike.

"Who's this?"

"This is another WOL, Pent."

"That acronym is really taking off isn't it?"

"Gareth told me that one, I like it."

"Moving on, this is Pent? Another person who looks like one of us."

"Yeah I just gave up on figuring that out." He replied shaking Pent, "I don't know why you look the same and right now I'm just relieved that we found another friend." Friend…I've played the GBA version of this game and I've always wondered one thing that wasn't explained through the whole game.

"How did all of you meet?"

"It's not a very happy story and I don't think we can talk about it right now anyway." He pointed to Pent as he moved and squirmed before opening his eyes and jumping up onto his feet getting into a battle stance.

"Where am I? Who are you people?" He moved his eyes around looking at everyone and giving a glare to everyone he made eye contact with until he looked at Kent and Hana, "Guys! He moved forward giving Kent and Hana a group hug, "It's good to see you two are okay. I was worried you two were captured."

"Pent, you were captured." Kent said as the hug ended.

"Yeah we saved you." Hana added straightening her dress.

"Really? So what happened in my absence?"

"We brought the earth crystal back to life!" Hana said excited.

"Really!? So what was brought back to the world?"

"…the earth was healed Pent." He doesn't seem to be firing on all cylinders.

"We also found some allies to help us in our quest." Kent said motioning to the four of us, "Soren, Alice, Gareth and Lissa."

"The third one looks familiar." Pent said scratching his chin in deep thought.

"Is he serious?" Alice asked in amazement at his stupidity.

"He may not be that smart but he's one of the strongest black belt fighters you will ever find in this world." Kent answered, "On the battle field he's a force to be reckoned with!"

"Cool! I want to spar against him!" Gareth said getting excited.

"I wouldn't recommend that." Hana said, "He doesn't know how to hold back in battle, if you're not careful he might kill you."

"Really?" Lissa asked a little frightened.

"When he went into a dojo for practice everyone he went up against needed a white mage healer." Kent answered; so he's the human weapon…interesting.

"I've got it! He looks like Kent!" Alice gave a sigh and put her hand to her temple.

"Can we not run into people I can't stand?"

"Apparently not." I answered with a chuckle.

After explaining the situation to Pent we spent a bit of time in town picking up some basic supplies for Pent to carry; he uses his fists in combat so the best we could pick up was gloves to protect his hands and knuckles to protect his…well, knuckles. Since everyone was back we had to decide who would head to the volcano which meant coming up with a new group.

"Why don't we just send the boat back to pick up the last three people so we can all head to the volcano instead of just four people?" Alice said as we bickered, "I don't think four of us can even take on the holder of the fire crystal. It took all six of us to take down the last one."

"Actually, we just need Pent for this one." Kent said surprising all of us, "He's more powerful than any of us I can guarantee that." Really, that powerful?

"Still, better safe than sorry." Lissa added in; the first to go across was Alice, Lissa, Kent and me with Lissa directing us as she looked at a handmade map; she had a real talent for recording information and it was paying off here with how she was leading us. We stopped off at a dead end island surrounded by rocks, on the island was a large volcano that looked like it had been inactive for years; Kent rowed back and brought Hana, Gareth and Pent as I examined the hardened lava around the volcano. Weirdly enough I could feel the heat emanating from the hardened lava even though it looked like it had been there for years; seems almost magical in how it was hardened.

"The fire crystal controls the forces of fire and lava in the world, with it inactive there is no heat to our world besides the sun." Kent answered walking over with everyone else behind him, "The inside is going to be less intense than it normally would be but I would still recommend a Nulblaze on the group."

"Lissa would you mind?" I asked and she gave a nod moving to cast spells on the group one by one; when she finished up she wiped the sweat off her brow and gave a sigh, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, it gets easier with each spell I cast."

"Let's get moving; hopefully we won't have to deal with too many monsters because it's a volcano." Kent said leading us all in to the opening; the inside was strangely hollow and vacant with not a hint of lava or monster to be seen. As we explored the inside we found a flight of stairs leading further down into the depths of the volcano; the floors were lined with hardened lava and when I looked up I could see the hardened lava from the previous floor on the ceiling. It must run from the bottom to the top…but what caused these openings? Separation of the hardened lava is very strange, it should all be connected; the fire fiend must have created these openings when they went after the fire crystal…but then it would have still been lava so why isn't it connected.

"You okay Soren?" Lissa asked walking next to me at the back of the line.

"Yeah just over thinking the situation. Hey would you mind continuing the story from the boat?"

"The story from the boat?"

"I'd be interested in hearing that to." Alice said moving backwards towards me as Gareth followed; I looked forward to see Hana, Kent and Pent were wrapped up in their own conversation; perfect opportunity.

"Well you remember when I said I lost control?"

"We remember that being the last thing you said." Gareth answered.

"Well before I even went to the land of Hyrule I was given a power by the boss."

"The power of a succubus." Alice said sure of herself.

"Yeah…but it wasn't the power he gave me, it was the consciousness of one."

"What do you mean?" I asked slightly confused.

"He basically put a succubus into my body and the more she spent in there the more she took control."

"…So why are you here now?" She gave me a look of surprise at that question, "It's not that you're here is more that your consciousness is here that's makes me ask that. From what you told us it's strange that you were able to come back when any other traveler wasn't able to."

"…She let me." Lissa answered, "I'm not sure what happened but after Hyrule but I was back in control, she didn't take over as long as I didn't use the power too much but I could hear her voice. She took over a during the Mushroom Kingdom visit but I blacked out during it and when I awoke I was back in control and she apologized and then went silent…I haven't heard from her since then."

"What made her take control the second time?" Alice asked and Lissa looked away with a shameful look on her face, "Lissa?"

"She was interested in you Alice…so we followed you."

"Me? Why?"

"I don't know but we tailed you until you were attacked by the piranha plant by yourself. As you were held by the creature she screamed a name and I blacked out. When I woke I was back in my bed."

"What name did she scream?"

"Nina." Nina?

"I've never heard that song before…has anyone else heard it?" I asked turning to Alice and Gareth who shook their heads.

"She spoke like someone else knew that name, someone who's seen Alice before." So someone who has seen Alice before; that leaves the cloaked man, Damien, and the three of us as far as I know.

"So is the succubus still inside you?" Gareth asked.

"I think so…but she lost her will to take over…I don't know why though." The succubus didn't want to go up against us again? What made her lose her will?

"Hmmm…" Alice hummed in deep thought.

"Something wrong Alice?" I asked.

"No." She responded shaking her head, "Just thinking about something. I can't verify it yet though. Is that all of it Lissa?"

"Yes, that's everything I know." She answered earnestly, "The only thing else you should know is that the boss is very interested in you three right now…you three are the only ones who have not joined him and been to multiple worlds, he's slightly obsessed…be careful." So he's working towards not only ruining worlds and recruiting travelers but also getting rid of us; speaking of we haven't been attacked by him or Damien yet…usually we've had at least two encounters with the group before we hit the halfway point.

"You be careful to." Gareth said to Lissa surprising her, "You're considered a traitor by them I'm guessing so you might also be a target." They did say they would take something from her before the end of this; what could they take from her?

"Come on let's keep moving." Alice said pointing ahead of us to Kent, Hana and Pent who were looking back at us; guess we were talking a bit too long. As we explored the fifth floor we came upon large double doors; I'm guessing that the fire crystal was just beyond the door meaning the fiend of fire that protected it was waiting for us. We all pushed on the doors as they screeched opening up to our combined strength; but with Pent pushing the door I felt like I was contributing much and I was guessing Gareth felt the same. The interior was large with a large crystal at the end and in front of it was a large snake tail that coiled into a small mound of bright red scales that moved and wriggled with a breathing consistency; we all pulled out our weapons and the shape uncoiled and revealed a strange creature with the upper body of a woman and the lower body of a snake.

"That's Marilith!" Hana exclaimed, "The fiend that protects the fire crystal from those looking to revive it!" So this thing protects the fire crystal.

"Oh…humans are here. Perfect, I was feeling hungry. You will make the perfect meal."

"Shows what you know. No one can eat humans." Pent said proudly and I heard Alice give a groan.

"I guess I should prove you wrong then." She replied extending two more sets of arms and pulling out six scimitars; can't get to close to those, "Show me what you've got Warriors of Light!"

Lissa and Hana chanted off spells with Hana throwing lighting spells while Lissa cast boosting spells to the rest of the group as we swung at the large snake woman; I dove in for a stab at which she slithered back and swung her tail intent to knock me back. I jumped over the tail and fell backwards as it came on the backswing; I quickly stood up to see Pent trying to reach her face to get a good punch in but being blocked by her blades while Gareth tried hacking at the torso with his axe being stopped by another set of blades and Kent was getting a few strikes in but then being grabbed and thrown back at the support group. Alice was busy trying to stop the tail from moving but finding no luck as every attack was shaken off and then returned with a tail strike; this creature not only had the strength to fight back but the ability to take on a group of five people with ease. I've got to think of something…

"Soren, break her sword defense!" I turned to see Kent had yelled that at me and I moved up as Marilith brought her blades up to block her blades; pulling out my second blade I swung down with all my strength knocking the scimitars out of the way, "Pent, Gareth, now!" As I feel down Gareth and Pent jumped up and swung and punched at her body making her fly backwards with an open wound spewing monster blood onto the floor; Pent had some serious power. So that was his plan, smart.

"You stupid food!" She shot her tail forward and swung at everyone on vanguard knocking us all to the ground as she rushed forward dropping her scimitars and grabbing all of us except Alice who had moved out of her way and Lissa who had narrowly avoided her hand. As she held us I felt her squeeze me with all her strength as I struggled to break free; my weapons were currently stuck on the floor where I feel which meant I couldn't cut my way out. As she squeezed she swung around knocking us along walls and floor making my vision go hazy and my body feel weak as I felt blood against different parts of my body. Suddenly there was a strange green blur and a spray of monster blood as I fell to the ground still gripped by the now disembodied hand; when I looked up feeling weak and dizzy I saw Alice with her blade covered in said blood and Marilith screaming in pain as she was now without her six hands…as I watched her scream my vision faded and I fell unconscious to the floor.

 **Lissa**

I gave a huff and wheeze from using that much magic; Alice had told me to cast five layers of haste spells on her and it still made me tired to use that much magic without a break and that fast, but it worked in our favor as she was able to free everyone before they died even if all of them were currently unconscious and bleeding.

"How dare you!" Marilith screamed as she shot a look at Alice.

"Like hell I'm letting you kill my friends! You're going down here!" She yelled pointing her blood soaked katana at her.

"I was told to hold back but I'm going to kill you here, I don't care anymore!" What? She was told to hold back? Suddenly a strange aura came off of Marilith and I felt my legs begin to go wobbly as I stood there with my scythe in my shaking hands. She held her hand out and the entire room began to heat up intensely around us; what was she doing? Suddenly pillars of fire began to pop up around Alice as she danced around trying to avoid them but ending up charred on the shoulders and thighs with a few of them. I charged forward and jumped using my scythe as a pole vault and pulling it with me ready to slice her head off; as I moved to cut her head off she turned with her mouth wide open and fangs bared as she shot forward and grabbed me with her mouth.

"Lissa!" I heard Alice shout but all I could feel was pained as Marilith sunk her fangs into my abdomen and chest; it was excruciating and I screamed as the pain wracked my body with blood spraying from the open bite marks and a feeling of numbing pain shooting across my veins making me scream with everything I had at the unbelievable pain. When she finished she tossed me across the room and I skid into the floor feeling my wounds tear open from scrapping across the floor; as I shakily rose feeling my body want to stop I looked to see Alice trying to dodge blast of ice with all of her focus but as she dodged the last one she shot her tailed forward and coiled it around her body squeezing her alive; no, I have to save her. Alice's body slowly began to turn to ice as a look of fear crossed her face before a look of determination came over and she began to struggle trying to break the ice; I can't give up, she's not, I will fight…to protect those I did wrong to. (No, I shall atone for my crimes Lissa.)

 **Alice**

As Lissa was tossed to the end of the room I rushed over only to be stopped by a blast of ice and I jumped back now avoiding blasts of ice trying to move over to Lissa; I have to save her before she dies from the blood loss! As the last blast hit the ground I felt as I was wrapped up and coiled by the snake tail and raised to meet the snake face to face.

"You die last; I want you to watch as all your friends die. You will die slowly, in a prison of ice." As she said that I felt as my legs became colder and looked at my shoulders to see they had been coated in dark blue ice; I was turning to ice!? This is going to be my end…no, I refuse to give up here! I want to get back and see Soren and Gareth in my room again…I even want to see Lissa and I want to see everything I can possibly see; this disgusting snake woman will not be my last sight! I struggled with all my might and felt my body go numb as she laughed; come on body you can do this, just break the ice!" Suddenly the Ice broke apart and I fell to the ground as the tail was cut apart; when I looked up I saw Lissa on top of the snake with a look of determination and duty in her eyes…those weren't her eyes! As the snake shot a spell Lissa disappeared and reappeared in front of the creature throwing a plethora of dark spells at her without stop before finally rushing forward and swinging rapidly across her torso as she shrieked in pain and fear at what was happening. Lissa disappeared again and reappeared standing on the snakes neck with the scythe across her neck, "What…what are you?"

"That's not an answer you get for hurting these people!" With a swift motion she swung severing the neck from the body and the figure of the creature suddenly disappeared dropping Lissa to the ground. She stood there for a minute before raising her scythe to the sky, "Healaga!" With that I felt a powerful energy envelop me and felt every wound and burn disappear in an instant and watched as it affected everyone else doing the same; when the light faded Gareth and Soren stood up shakily with a few coughs before looking over to me and Lissa…well, whoever this was.

 **Soren**

As I woke I opened my eyes to see I was still in the fire crystal chamber and looked around to see Gareth was also awake with Alice and Lissa standing apart from the group…wait, those eyes…they look familiar. I stood up and gave a small cough from the sudden recovery I was given and moved over to Alice and Lissa as Gareth did the same.

"What happened?" I asked.

"She saved us." Alice said motioning to Lissa, looking into her eyes they were different, less gentle and more welcoming but with a hint of intimidation…I've seen that before.

"Lissa saved us?" Gareth asked holding his head.

"No." I answered, "Not Lissa…the succubus." Gareth gave a look of surprise at my statement but Alice and…'Lissa' were unfazed.

"That's what I guessed as well." Alice said now giving an intense stare to her.

"I'm sorry we have to meet again like this. You may call me Sukia, the succubus. As well as your enemy and your savior."


	12. Chapter 12

Sukia the succubus, all that we knew about her was that she was a being that existed inside of Lissa since we met her in Hyrule; she was our enemy back then and seemed to be in distress during our last few encounters while there. Right now though she had saved us and any hostile moment from before seemed to be insignificant; not so much because of she saved us but because of the guilty look that she had on her face.

"Technically I've saved you twice." Sukia said motioning to Alice.

"When did you save me?" Alice asked backing up slightly untrustworthy her.

"Remember the piranha plant in the pipe?" Alice gave a nod, "…That was me, I couldn't leave you to die there." She couldn't let her die?

"Nina." Alice said suddenly, "It was because I look like Nina…right?"

"Hehe…she paid attention there didn't she? Yes, you looked like a very dear friend of mine. Not in so much how you look but your expression." Expression?

"So…how they emote?" Gareth asked and she shook her head.

"No, honestly they could not be more different but in that moment of panic and worry it reminded me of…a very bad moment." Sukia clutched her arms and trembled before taking a deep breath and going back to normal; something about her seemed different from the first time I met her, it wasn't like when I looked at Lissa though, I could tell it was the Sukia I met before but…her aura was different. Before her aura seemed empty and yet driven but this time around her aura has a hint of guilt and conflicted; there was much more to her than meets the eye…more than I think I could guess. I looked behind me to see Kent, Hana and Pent begin to stir.

"Look I have a lot of questions but right now let's just wait until we get back to town." I said pointing to the group who were currently standing up.

"Very well, what should I do?" Sukia asked.

"Just stay quiet right now." Alice responded.

"They might notice you aren't Lissa if you get in a conversation with them." Gareth added, "Except Pent, he seems a little dim."

"He really isn't different is he?" Alice said.

"What does that mean?"

"Let's not dwell on that right now guys." I said putting a halt to the conversation; the WOLs gathered and recollected ourselves quickly. Hana approached the fire crystal and held out her orb, it shined bright as the crystal met its resonance and the ground under us began to rumble; if the lava had hardened because of the fire crystals deactivation then…oh crap, "We have to go now!" I said and everyone began to worry, "Lava is going to fill this place soon. We have to get out of here!" Another earthquake ran through the volcano and everyone began to run out the way we came in; following behind we dashed up the volcano as quickly as possible. As we ran I heard the sound of something crashing and slushing and swirling of something liquid below us, lava must be pouring back in! Rushing through the second floor I noticed Hana begin to slow down and the ground under us was heating up; time to punch it to full speed! I grabbed Hana's hand and pulled her with me as everyone funneled out of the opening into the sunlight; as the sun touched our face a loud explosion rang through my ears and when I felt we were far enough away I turned around to see the volcano had erupted covering the opening in thick boiling lava.

"That was close." Gareth said breathing heavily.

"Can we have a situation where we aren't panting our lungs out?" Alice said wheezing.

"We have the fire crystal lit now though." Kent said standing up with a large breath, "We are halfway done with our quest now. Let's keep moving."

"One small problem with that." Alice said grabbing his attention, "We have no ship, no strength to keep going and I think we could do with a patch job on our clothing." As she said that she held up her green jacket which was covered in tears and burn marks; my clothes were also in the same state and even my pack had been damaged, a good amount of supplies were gone, I was going to need to get this fixed; good thing I knew an expert seamster…seamstress? Whatever.

"Hey Gareth, you mind?" I asked holding up my cloak.

"That's my specialty, I'm going to need everyone's clothes to get it done quickly though."

"Not happening." Alice said backing up, "I'm not walking around with nothing on!"

"You'd still have your undergarments on." Pent said oblivious to what she meant.

"That doesn't make it better!"

"Here you go." I turned to see Hana had dropped her robe in front of Gareth; suddenly my vision was covered by someone's hands.

"Not happening." That was Alice's voice, "You are not looking at me in that state."

"It's not you, it's Hana."

"Still not happening."

"It's just her in undergarment."

"What undergarments?" That was Hana's voice…!

"I am not letting you look!" As Alice said that I felt her tug at my ear, "At least put something on Hana! For everyone."

"I'm enjoying this."

"Shut up Gareth!"

"Here you are."

"Woah! Pent you need something to cover…that, just all that." And now I'm glad I can't see anything.

"Maybe we should get back to town before we start this." Kent said trying to stop this beyond awkward situation.

"I second that." I added.

"That might be better." Alice agreed.

"Can you uncover my eyes now?"

"Not until Hana is dressed."

Once we were back at Crescent Lake Town we picked up some simple clothing to wear while Gareth worked on our clothes; we decided to take a stay at the inn as it was becoming night, Alice, Sukia and I hung out with Gareth as he sewed and the WOLs trained outside. I would have liked to join them but right now with Sukia here I had something much more important on my plate right now; we sat there in silence as Sukia looked away while Alice looked at her and then me and then Gareth with a sense of tension in her eyes.

"So…where should we start?" I asked and Sukia cleared her throat catching our attention.

"Well…what do you want to know?"

"Who's Nina?"

"Nina was a girl I knew and she was a traveler just like the four of you. She was a very good friend of mine and an amazing mage. Her magic reached the omega level of power and yet she was one of the nicest girls I've ever met. She had this optimistic personality and always approached every situation with a certain level of calm that mad people feel safe."

"She was a traveler?"

"Yep, the first time I met her was in my world. When she first appeared she was timid and scared…but that was to be expected; I am a succubus after all." So she's not from earth.

"Where are you from?"

"I'm from the underworld…or should I say one of the various underworlds. Have any of you heard of Overlord Laharl?" Laharl…Disgaea!?

"So you're from another game world?"

"In your world I guess you could call it that. For me it is home…or…it was home." What does that mean?

"What happened to your world?"

"…It was destroyed."

"Destroyed!?" Alice said in shock.

"How can you just destroy a world!?" Gareth said stopping his work to comment at the surprising news.

"Travelers…they hold a lot more power than normal."

"Did Nina destroy it?"

"No, Owen did." Owen?

"Who's Owen?"

"You actually know him quiet well; he's tried to get you more than once."

"The cloaked man!?" Alice asked surprised.

"…So he was there to?"

"Yes, he was another traveler and an amazing fighter. He, Nina and I were very close; we all worked under Laharl helping him, Etna and Flonne as they fought through the underworld. We became stronger together and met friends along the way…even the shapeshifter and a pair of Gemini creatures."

"Damien?"

"No…he didn't have a name. We didn't mind though, Nina even made the best of the situation, she called him Shifty and it didn't irritate him but it made him feel better. She had a talent for making other people feel better and making them trust her. I think that's what made Owen fall for her; she in turn fell for him." So they were in love.

"What was the cloaked guy like?" Alice asked.

"He was courageous and protective, always putting others before himself and acting heroic, but he had a certain hint of intelligence that was never present in public. He was also very sweet and maybe a little stupid at times; we didn't mind though…he was one of our best friends. He cared for Nina more than anyone else though and that was apparent anytime they were together. It was sweet, I was honestly a little jealous."

"So what happened?" As I asked that her face became sullen.

"She died." Somehow, I had a feeling it was that, "We came so close to the end of our quest and in the final battle with the seraph to avenge Flonne…but it didn't go as planned. As the seraph was about to strike down Nina there was a look of panic and worry plastered on her face…like Alice had; Owen tried to reach her but he was too late and…and she died." There was silence as she took a moment to collect herself, "As she lay there dead there was something rippling off of Owen; it was malicious and made me scared to move or breath. He shouted and the world went white after that; when I woke up the world was dust and ash. Everyone was gone except for Owen, Shifty and Nina's body; where Owen was standing was a portal and he trembled for a minute before steeling himself and beckoning us into the portal."

"So why are you recruiting travelers?" Gareth asked finishing Hana's robe.

"I don't know the details but…Owen said he knew how we could get Nina back, all we had to do was follow him into the portal. Since then we've been following his plans and recruiting travelers; honestly I had no problem with it if it meant we would bring Nina back but I started to lose myself…and the promise I made to Nina."

"What promise?"

"As a succubus I have the power to overpower the minds of the weak and manipulate others to do my bidding. Before I met Owen and Nina I was controlling everyone I came across and becoming more powerful as a result…but then Nina became my friend and I didn't want to lose that feeling, so I made her a promise not to control anyone ever again… but as I worked under Owen to bring her back I forgot that promise and controlled Lissa like I would have before. Even when I lost control I still tried to convince her to give me control and I didn't think twice about it…but remembering that look on her face made me remember the promise I made to her. Then I stopped, I let Lissa have her body back and went silent, but once I saw all of you were in trouble I had to come in and save you; after everything I did to you I couldn't let you die."

"So you're going to fight with us against him?" I asked, after everything we've been through it sounds like she has some reservations about what she has done.

"No." She stated giving me a confident look, "I made a promise that I would not control others to do my bidding and I mean that. I owed Lissa for what I did and had to save you…but I still want Nina back and I won't give up on that. As long as I reside within Lissa I will not attack but I will not help you, as long as I can bring her back I will follow Owen to the end."

"Then why did you tell us all this?" Alice asked.

"After everything you've seen and everything I did to Lissa I owed at least this much. This is all I shall give though, let it be known that I am still your enemy, and to trust me is to sentence yourself to death now." With those words she collapsed to the floor and we all looked over as she rose back up and rubbed her eyes.

"What…what happened?" That's Lissa, "Did we activate the fire crystal?"

"Yes, we're safe now." I answered calming her down, "And we have Sukia to thank." Lissa gave me a confused look as her cheeks turned red; seemed like Sukia had some influence inside her body.

"So the boss- I mean Owen wants to bring Nina back?" Gareth said tossing a pair of pants into the completed pile.

"It seems so." Alice said thinking, "But why would he need an army of travelers? It doesn't make any sense." She was right, the only reason I could see to gather an army is to invade someplace but where could he invade to get Nina back from the dead?

"Done!" We turned our head to see Gareth had finished sewing our clothes back together, "Now our clothes are patched back together. Now we can keep moving!"

"No we can't." Alice said grabbing her clothes from the pile, "We have no boat and a canoe won't get us past the shores."

"We have a Levistone." I said pulling out the strange rock, "But what it does is still in question." Lissa grabbed the stone from my hand and pulled out a small book flipping through it.

"…no…no…no…there it is!" She showed us the page she had flipped to and it had a detailed picture of the stone, "The Levistone is said to have the ability to activate the airship that lies in the desert near Crescent Lake. Unfortunately no one has found the Levistone so these claims are only speculation and theory."

"Let me see that book." Alice said grabbing the book she was reading from, "…Myths and Legends of the world? Where did you get this?"

"The sage gave it to me before we left for the fire crystal. He said it might come in handy…also I thought it would be a good read." Lissa answered slipping the book back into her bag.

"What desert is it talking about?" Gareth asked.

"At the south end of the land there's a small area of sand." We turned to see Kent had answered his question while Hana and Pent followed behind into the inn, "It wasn't always there but it showed up about a hundred fifty years ago it just showed up in the mountain crevice. No one could figure out why but there were rumors that an airship had landed there and disappeared when people went o investigate…maybe there was some merit to that idea."

"Sounds like something is there." Pent added in.

"We could use the ship." Hana said, "Especially an airship! It sounds kind of cool."

"I prefer the ground." Gareth said with a chuckle, "I have a bit of motion sickness."

"That one time we took the bus to Alice you vomited after fifteen seconds." I said laughing.

"Hey! Don't make me sling mud!" Gareth said smirking, "Or do heights no longer make you tumble backwards?"

"Touché Gareth touché." We chuckled as Kent and the other WOLs stood there confused, "Anyway I think we should check it out. What about you guys?"

"Sounds good to me." Alice replied, Lissa gave a meek nod and the others were already headed to the door.

"Looks like they're on board to." Lissa said with a small giggle, "Hey…mind if I…never mind."

"Go ahead, you can ask your question." I said trying to give her confidence.

"Well…I don't mean to be rude but…did Sukia say anything about me?" Her?

"She didn't say anything personal about you if that's what you mean." Alice said reassuring her; she gave a sigh of relief.

"Good, I mean…I didn't expect her to but I just wanted to make sure." She replied with a nervous chuckle.

"You don't want us to know something?" Gareth said equipping himself.

"No no no no no! It's just…I'm not ready yet." So that's it.

"It's okay; it took a while for us to so you take your time." I said giving her a gentle pat on the head, "We all have reasons to hide something. I'm sure we still have secrets we're keeping from each other. I trust that there reasons are good and if you need time then I'll give that to you."

"I don't mind waiting." Alice added.

"Same!" Gareth said giving her a wide smile.

"Thanks…I promise I'll tell you soon." She said clutching her journal; I'm sure she would.

As we sat out near the small dessert we surveyed the area around the sand; the mountains around the sand pit seemed cracked and broken while the area underneath the sand was grassy and moist. This sand was unnatural and seemed weirdly placed with how the mountains were broken apart.

"It looks like the mountain broke apart to make this opening and then grass layered the area. After that sand was…dumped onto it." Lissa said taking notes.

"Wouldn't the grass have died then?" Gareth asked.

"It would if any of this was real." Hana added running her hands through the grass under the sand.

"Are you saying that this isn't real?" Alice asked.

"It's an illusion spell, simple spell to divert attention of prying eyes. It looks really strong though, not something you can dispel." As she contemplated out loud Alice tapped my shoulder and whispered into my ear.

"Is she actually intelligent?"

"She might just be an expert at magic spells and after all she is you, you aren't completely stupid."

"What does that mean?"

"Nothing misses trade Virginia Avenue for B & O Railroad."

"Hey, those railroads got me over $1000."

"And then you landed on Gareth's space and lost it all."

"…Still." I chuckled at her defensiveness and she gave a small giggle.

"That's it!" We turned to see Hana had dusted away some of the sand and pulled up the grass around to reveal a small groove in the ground, "Kent can you hand me the Levistone?" Kent pulled out the stone from his bag and handed it to Hana who placed it into the small opening, as we stood there the ground began to shake and we were suddenly pulled back by Pent as the ground opened up into a dark whole. I watched as the Levistone fell into the abyss and then I heard the sound of something hitting wood; as we looked into the hole something began to rise into the opening and I was amazed to see a giant airship rise to us as we stood there. When it stopped rising we stood there in awe at the giant ship in front of us; it had sails with helicopter blades at the top and smaller ones coming out the base. It also had sails on the pole to give us mobility instead of just floating capabilities; upon closer inspection some of the blades were movable making it possible to channel air directly into the sail. It gave the feeling that this was meant to work without the help of natural wind; were there other heroes who tried to save the crystals? We all climbed onto the ship and as we examined the interior my foot collided with the Levistone catching my attention, picking it up I looked around to see a small dais in the cockpit. Putting reason to execution I placed the Levistone in the dais and another bout of shaking took place as the sound of rapidly moving blades filled the air and the sound of a jet engine plane; I looked out the front window to see we were rising off the ground into the sky.

"We're airborne!" Pent shouted excited.

"We're so high up!" Hana said bending over the edge.

"Let's be careful." Kent said pulling her back. As everyone looked over the edged excited I saw Gareth back up clutching his stomach; guess he still has a motion sickness problem, I looked down to see that where we had risen from was small enough for me to cover with my fist and felt my eyes start to freak out. I think that's enough of that; I backed up and sat down on the deck trying to calm myself.

"Vertigo?" Lissa asked helping me up.

"A little bit. Heights aren't one of my favorites." I answered with a nervous chuckle.

"So where are we headed next?" Alice asked; that was a good question, we had an airship now but I don't know how to get to the last two crystals, the water crystal is below the ocean and the air crystal is above the clouds…but how we're getting there is another question entirely. As I thought about it Gareth rushed past me heading for the edge of the ship and, I'm pretty sure, puked over the side with all his might.

"He didn't get motion sick on the boat but he does on a bus and airship?" Lissa asked confused.

"Even I think it's weird, maybe he has selective motion sickness?"

"That's not a thing." Alice said as Gareth continued to hurl.

"Apparently now it is…ew."


	13. Chapter 13

I sat in the main control area of the ship as we soared through the clouds around the land; Kent was busy controlling the ship while Lissa sat in the crow's nest getting every detail of the land she could onto a blank map. Once we had acquired the airship we decided that this would be the best time to get a scale map of the landscape to make it easier to navigate on ground; since our best drawer was Lissa she had the mission of cataloging everything she could see from the air which she was ecstatic to do. Meanwhile the rest of us kept sharp eye on any airborne enemies that came in range of our vessel; lucky for us it seemed like the only thing that inhabited the air were birds that soared far away from us, it made our job easier and with Gareth's motion sickness and my vertigo we were in no position to battle monsters.

"Guys, guys!" I turned to see Hana rushing up to us with an excited look on her face; she had left to explore what else the ship had on board, wonder what she found, "This ship has beds, food storage and extra clothing and best of all it has showers!"

"Really?" Alice asked with a hint of excitement in her voice, "I could use a shower. Smelling like the inside of a monster is something I'd like to get rid of."

"If it has showers then doesn't that mean there's a water storage tank somewhere on the ship?" Gareth asked holding his stomach.

"Why do you think that?" I asked.

"Whenever the plumbing was acting up at the orphanage there was a system installed where we could add a tankard of water to the main water way to keep us from running dry. All we had to do was block the main pipe and add the jug to the piping through a T pipe. It was a big tank of water to, about 100 liters; when we ran through it I had to refill it with local water whenever I got the chance."

"Then I'm guessing you have some idea where the piping system is?" Alice asked.

"Maybe, show me to the shower." Hana gave a nod and led the three of us to a door labeled 'shower' and then Gareth walked further down stopping at a nearby door with no label, he pushed it open and inside was a series of pipes along the walls with multiple T pipes left open at the top; obviously for that tank to latch onto. In the center of the room was a large waterproof steel barrel, giving it a knock I could hear a long echo; guess the barrel's empty, if we're going to fill it were going to need either river or lake water as ocean water is salty and contaminated.

"Looks like you're going to need to wait on that shower Alice." I said chuckling as Gareth examined every pipeline.

"Damn it…what about a laundry system?" Alice asked and Hana shrugged.

"I've got it handled." Gareth said with a thumbs up.

"You're a regular housewife Gareth." We snickered at Alice's comment and he gave a smirk.

"Guess someone doesn't want clean clothes."

I headed back up to the deck as they sorted out a system and looked up at the crow's nest to see Lissa still absorbed in her scribbling while Pent shadowboxed on the deck very absorbed in his training; Kent kept focused on flying occasionally turning to Lissa who shyly pointed to which area they should fly over next. Seemed everyone was busy doing something onboard while I just wandered through the interior…maybe I should get some magic training done; I still can't handle level two spells without collapsing but I've managed to get the hang of level one magic without a lot of problems. I've got to get a better handle on it, there's too much at stake to just wing it and hope for the best this time!

"Fire!"

 **Lissa**

"Fire!" I looked down to see Soren firing off spells into the open sky where they dissipated quickly; he's been working hard to get the hang of spells and it was showing in how he can now launch at least four level one spells without getting tired but I suppose I have no room to talk. With my white magic skill I can cast ten level five spells and still have the energy to fight; Alice can cast various back magic spells while in combat and still move as fast and Hana can launch powerful spells without much effort. Before I would have said that maybe he wasn't magically attuned but Gareth, Kent and Pent can't cast any spells which means Soren's magical ability is just incredibly low…but I suppose it's not his fault. I looked at my map to see I had a pretty good scope of the land, the ocean and the land were well defined with various dots of important areas we've been to clearly marked; this might actually be the first map of the land anyone in this world has seen. This is actually kind of exhilarating for me; I've always enjoyed cataloging but this was information that no one else had, completely new facts that might have more merit in this world than just a personal interest. With the map finished I rolled up the parchment and stored it into my satchel satisfied with my work…time for a little personal recording; I pulled out my journal and looked down at Pent and Soren as they practiced keeping an eye on every movement I could. Pent performs three jab punches followed by a push kick and then backs up leaving himself room from his enemy; Soren slightly jostled with every spell he fires and fires each spell with his left hand putting his right hand on his wrist to keep himself stable. Scribbling down the new facts into their records I looked to see Kent waving to me so I finished up and put my journal away as I climbed down the crow's nest carefully to avoid landing unpleasantly. Rushing over to the ship controls I handed him the completed map and he unfurled it scanning what I had written down; what if he doesn't like it, what if it's not good enough?

"S-Sorry if it's not good enough."

"It's fine, some of the area are less detailed but I'm guessing that's because you and your group hasn't been there yet." Kent said rolling the map and putting it into his pack, "Speaking of your group, where are you all from?" What!? I can't tell him the truth, with how Kent distrust us right now if I told him we were from another world it might end up in clashing blades and fists but I can't tell him nothing he'll distrust us even more then! Oh, I don't know how to deal with the situation, "Are you okay?" With Kent's voice it knocked me out of my inner turmoil and back to the conversation at hand.

"We're actually…foreign to this land, we didn't show up until we…heard about the issues the land was having. Soren said that we should help because it might spread to our lands and so…here we are." I laughed nervously as he gave me a cocked eyebrow as I talked; I'm not good with people at all, I can catalog about a person for hours but when it comes to talking to that person I'm not very good.

"Well then…it makes sense to worry about that but this is our job. The Warriors of Light has a duty to protect this land and when we finally get Sena back we can take it from there." Was he saying that he didn't need us soon?

"Being prideful again Kent?" We turned to see Hana standing at the door way with a big smile on her face.

"It's our job to save this world, not these guys. We have a duty that we can't just let other people burden them with."

"Oh! You're worried for them. That's sweet!"

"N-No I'm not! It's just that we have to take this burden ourselves!"

"You're worried; I can see it in your face and cheeks." I looked to see a light pink end up on Kent's cheeks; I'm starting to feel like a third wheel in this conversation now, I quickly stepped out and crossed the deck as Alice walked towards me, she gave me a quizzical look and then a sigh; even after everything she was still slightly skeptical of me and I understood why, after all I had attacked her and had someone inside me that could attack at any moment.

"Kent says he wants us gone when we find the fourth Warrior of Light." I said to her and she gave a sigh.

"Not surprising, he's much more prideful than Soren."

"Hana says he's just worried about us."

"Also likely but he's still a royal pain in the ass with how he acts sometimes."

"Well…he's just…um…I've got nothing."

"It's okay, I'm going to go chart out a course for a water supply. I'm getting a shower if it's the last thing I do!" Shower? She passed by me confidently and I decided to go look at the shower she was talking about, I passed by Soren and he gave me a quick wave as he drank down an ether. The interior was wood lined with occasional creaking following my footsteps until I came upon a room labeled 'shower' and when I opened I was shocked to see the equivalent of a gym shower with just water spigots without separating walls; I think I would be too embarrassed to use these with the rest of the group…at least with the boys there. Suddenly I heard the sound of clanging metal in the room next to me; I moved over to see Gareth inspecting the pipes, jostling them and hitting them kicking up quiet a bit of dust making me cough alerting him to my presence.

"Oh, hey Lissa, what's up?"

"What are you doing in here?"

"Just making sure the plumbing isn't clogged or rusty; don't want Alice getting pissed at me mid-shower." Gareth said with a chuckle making me laugh as well, "Is there anything you needed?"

"Oh, no just…didn't know what to do after I was done."

"Well if you want I could use your help with the plumbing."

"I'm not very good with my hands…except when writing."

"Well then can you keep record of the working pipes? Your attention for detail could actually be useful here."

"R-Really?"

"Yeah, Soren pointed out how you caught every little detail of each of our enemies while looking through your beastiary. So I thought to myself that maybe you can keep track of things while I go through them; I'll even take some of your advice on fixing them if you have any." My advice?

"Well…if it's rusted then I might have a few tips to bring back its shine."

 **Soren**

I panted and wheezed feeling exhausted from my magic training; even with the nonstop spell casting I still couldn't take more than five level one spells before needing to take a break, it was honestly frustrating to think that after two crystals and a variety of enemies I still couldn't handle advanced magic. Deciding I was done training I headed for the cockpit to see where we were headed next; I entered to see Alice looking over a map of the area with Kent while Hana sat on the side twiddling her fingers with a bored look on her face.

"I say we head for the water crystal directly." Kent said confidently.

"We don't know where to go and even if it's underwater that just makes things harder with all ocean water being acidic." Alice rebutted.

"It's not acidic."

"It might as well be the way it ate up our ship."

"Well then we need to find a way underwater…maybe in a boat of steel."

"It sounds good but there's one problem." I said entering the conversation, "Even if we got underwater we can't breathe water."

"We could ask a mermaid to help us." Hana said obviously bored just sitting there.

"Don't they just drag men to their death?" Alice said.

"I don't think so, sirens maybe but not mermaids." Kent said.

"So we're stuck with no way forward?" I asked.

"At least no leads on where to go." As we sulked I looked out to see a mist had consumed our vessel.

"What's going on?" I moved onto the deck to see the entire area was shrouded in a deep fog; I looked behind me to see Alice, Kent and Hana had joined me and were looking both worried and confused at the fog and from the other end Pent, Gareth and Lissa had joined us on deck.

"This fog isn't natural." Pent said with a grimace on his face.

"I know what you mean Pent. Something isn't right." Kent said pulling out his sword and shield; everyone followed in suite pulling out their respective weapons as I did the same, but before any of us could react I felt something move through my body and my vision went black instantly.

"…Ngh!" As I woke I touched my hands to the cold stone floor as I rose to my feet; looking around I found myself in a disheveled stone room that had holes letting in the moonlight from outside; I guess it turned to night while I was out. Wait…why wasn't I on the airship…and where is everyone else; I looked around franticly to see someone collapsed on the ground in bright red armor, Kent! He slowly moved trying to rose himself from slumber and I moved over helping him to his feet; as he rose he reached for his sword and shield pulling them out and pointing them at me.

"Back up! I don't know what happened but it's not making you look any better!"

"I'm not sure what happened either, I just woke up." I raised my hands showing no ill intent and he sheathed his weapon, "Why are you so distrustful of me?

"You've constantly been on my radar for two very important reasons. One, you almost turned on us before and two; I don't trust anyone but my fellow Warriors of Light."

"But why only them, I can understand not trusting me but my friends haven't done anything."

"…You know what happened the last time I trusted someone? They destroyed our home, killed our loved ones and left us alone with only each other to fall back on! I don't want to lose them and I'll make sure I don't lose them, I'm with you guys as a necessity but once we find Sena that's it! We part from there."

"Even after everything we went through you still want to suspect us?"

"It doesn't matter how much you've done or how you have proved yourself, I will NEVER trust you; or anyone beside my friends. Deal with that!" He was very defensive about this; I don't know why but he's not willing to budge; but I can't give up…although maybe I should drop it for now.

"Fine, where are we?"

"It looks like…the Citadel? But it's been lost for ages; nobody has been able to find it for five hundred years. So why are we here?"

"The citadel?"

"A place where warriors proved their worth and became heroes that rivaled gods." So this is a place of trials and tribulations to prove their worth and become stronger; then why was I here? I looked around us finding a stone door with a bright red stone marking and a dual blade symbol carved into it.

"What is this?" I touched the door and the dual blade symbol glowed; I took my hand off the door and it stopped glowing, something was magical about this place and it wasn't the normal magical of this world, "Mind helping me Kent?" He moved over and started to push and as he touched the door the red orb lit up with intensity; he pushed with all his strength but the door wouldn't budge and inch.

"Ngh! It…won't…budge!"

"Hmm…" I put my hand forward and pushed with Kent and the dual blades lit up and as both symbols glowed in unison the door began to screech against the stone floor giving way to a path beyond the door. We both took a glance into the darkness and I could feel the cold wind against my skin; we both drew our weapons ready to take on whatever was beyond the door and hopefully find our friends.

 **Alice**

"Ahhh…what happened?" I stood up and pushed the hair out of my eyes looking around at the area I was in; it was a dank dark room with rubble piled up everywhere and another person collapsed in a nearby corner…next to a door? Where is everyone else? One minute we're in a dense fog then Soren collapses and then I fell to the ground unconscious; what knocked me and Soren out though, it was instantaneous, it was like something ran through me and that was it.

"Where…where am I?" I turned to see the figure rising to reveal it to be Hana; of all people, I helped her up and she dusted off her dress as she looked around confused at the circumstance and place she was in; couldn't blame her for being confused, "Is this…the Citadel!?"

"Wait…what's the Citadel?"

"Kent told us about it all the time, a place where warriors go to become heroes, it's been missing for centuries upon centuries though."…The game always showed the Warriors of Light as a team since the beginning but I've got to wonder what past they have.

"How did you all meet?"

"Huh?"

"You and the other Light Warriors. How did you meet?"

"Oh we've been friends since childhood. We spent every day together since birth; being destined heroes made us a part of each other's lives."

"So you know everything about each other?"

"Yep, it's always been me, Kent, Pent and Sena…at least until a few days ago when Garland separated us. I think it's been hardest on Kent though."

"What's his deal, why is he so distrustful?"

"It's because of his old friend, Ventus."

"Ventus?" Suddenly a glow caught our attention and we looked over at the door to see it had two glowing symbols on them, a green orb and a katana blade; did this mean something? I put my hand to the door and the katana gave a powerful glow, it was resonating with me; I beckoned Hana over and she approached the door putting her hand on it, the green orb illuminated and we both gave a push. It moved and we let go but the door moved on its own opening up to a long dark hallway; I felt a sense of dread wash over me and I pulled out my katana; whatever was beyond there was something I didn't want to face unarmed, Hana pulled out her rod and followed behind as we moved further into the darkness.

 **Gareth**

"Owww…what the-" I stood up rubbing my head and looked to see I was in a room lightly illuminated by the moonlight; the stonework was cracked and piled up into rubble while there were various piles of dust and ashen rubble from the look of it. On one corner there was Pent knocking at the stonework and even punching it, but no matter how hard he hit it the stone didn't budge or even crack any more than it already was.

"This is definitely the Citadel."

"Citadel?"

"The area where warriors become heroes…Kent always wanted to come here to become a hero."

"Why? I mean I know he's a warrior of Light but by how he acts it seems like there's something more to it."

"Perceptive Gareth. Truly only the most empathetic could sense the inner turmoil."

"A little too much there buddy."

"Sorry. You're right though; Kent had a friend named Ventus from our childhood. They were the best of friends, even rivaling the WOLs bond." That acronym is really taking off, "It didn't end well though, Ventus is the reason we have no home."

"What?"

"Ventus turned out to be an agent of darkness and if it wasn't for Kent's parents we might be dead…they protected us to the end as we ran away."

"…Is that why he doesn't trust anyone?"

"Precisely, but to not trust others is to close the door of your life. My training as a monk taught me that in order to become my best I must let go of my pain…it isn't so easy for Kent though."

"I understand…it was his best friend after all."

"It is a deep wound…let us not discuss it anymore. Now that you are up I need your help." He led me over to a door and put his hand on it, at that moment a light brown orb lit up on the door and next to it was a dim great axe symbol, "I've found out that this door will open but only if we work together, our friends are most likely beyond the threshold." He's me…but he's smarter than me…maybe I should take monk training. We pushed the door with our combined strength and it flew open into a long dark hallway; I pulled out my axe as Pent got into his stance and we moved forward into the darkness.

 **Lissa**

"…?" I opened my eyes to the bright light of the moon illuminating the ground under me; looking around I found myself in a room with the roof completely destroyed letting the entire light of the moon into it. At one end of the room stood a stone door with a red orb symbol and scythe symbol on it; upon pushing it the scythe illuminated but the door didn't budge at all; I was going to need someone else to help me. Suddenly a bright flash came from behind me and when I turned around I came face to face with a girl with red hair and glasses in a white robe, it was the last Warrior of Light…and my doppelganger…at least as I should be.


	14. Chapter 14

As we moved farther into the darkness it became colder and I could feel my body grow stiffer; something about this Citadel was affecting me in a way the filled me with fear and dread, there was something in this place that wasn't of this world but it wasn't Owen or his underlings…something else was in here. I turned to Kent to see him looking around franticly at every corner of the hall and brandishing his sword ready to strike at anything that moved; I might want to stay a safe distance away from him just in case.

"Keep your guard up Soren."

"Right!" I raised my blade and slowly moved forward as it became colder and darker; eventually it was pitch black and I could only hear my own and Kent's footsteps as we kept moving down the path, suddenly I heard the wind blow right into my ear and stopped in my tracks. In that moment torches lit along the wall revealing a circular room…with no way out; the hall behind us had disappeared and Kent and I were now stuck in a room with no exit.

"Here we are stuck in a trap. Because of you!" He turned his sword to me and I skid away from him.

"Now is not the time to be turning your blade to me!" I yelled back.

"Says you! I won't let you trick me!"

"This is insane! You can't keep doing this! No one will trust you if you keep acting like this!"

"That's fine…I don't need anybody except my fellow warriors!"

"And so you'll kill me?"

"I know who my enemies are…and you're one of them!"

 **Alice**

"What the hell is happening?" I watched as Kent started attacking Soren from a strange cloud of vision; as Kent barraged him with attacks he backed up and parried his blade away moving around the room to avoid getting cornered. Why was Kent attacking Soren, when we entered the room suddenly the exit was gone and this vision came up; but what prompted him to attack?

"Is…is Soren an enemy?" Hana said trembling.

"No, Soren isn't an enemy!"

"But Kent is attacking him…he must be…and that makes you…an enemy to." As she finished that sentence she turned to me pointing her staff at me, what was happening to Hana, even if she's in a bad mood she wouldn't attack like this? As she looked me in the eye she had a glazed over look that seem like there was something else behind them…or something controlling her, "Firaga!"

 **Gareth**

"What's wrong with her eyes?" Pent and I watched as Hana loaded spell after spell on Alice who stood there enchanting her blade with different power and either blocking or slicing through the spells thrown at her, "Why isn't she dodging?"

"Magic is impossible to avoid, it homes in on the opponent and won't let up till it hits. Alice is instead taking the attacks by countering them with other spells. It's a bold move but she's surviving…that's more than I can say for you!" I turned in surprise as he punched me knocking me onto the ground; rolling backwards I stood up and drew my battle axe, I don't know why he's attacking but I won't go down without a fight! Looking up at the screens for a minute I looked to see Alice and Soren still blocking and dodging there attacks not fighting back…damn it; he dashed at me and I dodged his punch and blocked his other punch with the metal of my axe and pushed him backwards giving me room to get into blocking position…this was going to be a long battle.

 **Lissa**

She refused to budge as I tried shaking her awake; without her I couldn't leave this room and she was incapacitated, she wasn't dead thankfully but she seemed to be unable to wake by normal means…maybe I should try something else.

"Life!" I shouted as I raised the dull end of my scythe to the sky; the light from my spell traveled up the weapon and dissipated at the top reforming around Sena and being absorbed into her body. She coughed harshly as she sat up, "Are you okay?" As she looked at me she gave a gasp before taking my hand and getting up as I helped her.

"Who are you?" She asked pushing her glasses up.

"I'm Lissa. You're a Warrior of Light right?"

"…Yes, but…h-how do you know that?"

"W-w-well I know your other warriors." She really is like me, even down to the nervousness.

"Oh! So they're all safe…good." She said with a sigh of relief; she took a deep breath and then stepped towards me looking at my face, "So it's true there are dimensional anomalies within our world."

"What?" What was she talking about?

"They say the likelihood of two people looking identical is eighty-four thousand to one, of course that's based off the population." She continued to eye my face and body with a look of intrigue, "You look like me but without the glasses and with longer hair." She started touching my hair and touching my hips; she really didn't know about boundaries, "Even your chest is the same size as mine."

"Eep!" With that screech she backup with an embarrassed look on her face; guess she got lost in the moment, still…she groped me…I'd better be careful around her.

"S-s-sorry, I tend to get a little lost in research and interest."

"It's okay b-but be careful. I have a companion that might not be so understanding about that." Alice would definitely not be so nice about this incident…speaking of where is everyone; it's just me and Sena in this room so they must be beyond that stone door, "Can I get your help Sena, this stone door won't open." I pointed to the door and she took a long look at every corner and put her hand to it making the red orb symbol light up.

"So we're at the Citadel."

"Why do you think that?"

"The Citadel is known as a lost hero's dungeon that will test those who enter to become stronger. The Citadel knows how to bring people in and how to properly conduct a way to test them with their weakest traits; for some reason it wants us to work together based on this door." She said taking her hand on and off the door.

"How do you know all this?"

"I have an identic memory and have a tendency for reading books in my free time. If it was written in a book I know all about it." She said proudly before slinking back to her shyness, "S-sorry if it sounds like I'm bragging."

"Don't worry, I may not h-have an identic memory b-but I have a personal journal." I said pulling out my journal and handing it to her; she opened it up and skimmed through it before handing it back to me.

"That's actually pretty good. It's very detailed which is nice. M-most of the time I can't catch everything at first…it actually takes me a while to notice things that you've marked down."

"Well…th-thanks." I replied blushing from her compliment.

"Let's get this door; hopefully everyone else is beyond it."

"Right!" We both put our hands to the door and pushed as the symbols shinned and the stone floor screeched opening up to us; on the other side was a dark hallway that seemed to go on forever…what's this familiar feeling? It feels like something dark and dangerous is looming over us…it frightens me…no, don't cave in now, I have to find the others; if it's what I think it is then they're in deep trouble, "Let's move in, I have a bad feeling." She gave me a nervous nod feeling the same energy I did. We rushed into the darkness and as it became darker I began to slow down feeling the bitter cold and darkness envelop me and making me shiver…I know this feeling. This isn't the first time I've felt this, it's happen before, when I met Owen for the first time…doubt, it's the feeling of doubt and fear that's surrounding me. I stopped feeling something blow past my ear and as I stopped torches lit up illuminating a circular room with no exit; we looked around to see three different smoke clouds revealing three different fights. Soren vs. Kent, Alice vs. Hana and Gareth vs. Pent; it seemed strange though, while the Warriors of Light were on the offensive Soren and the group were staying defensive with their action…something must be wrong with the WOLs. I may not know Soren, Alice and Gareth very well but they wouldn't attack without reason and the way their defending something is definitely up with them.

"That's my friends but…their fighting their doppelgangers?"

"No, those are my teammates and their being barraged by the warriors." I turned to see Sena had a worried look on her face.

"Something is wrong…their eyes." Taking a second look I noticed that Kent, Hana and Pent all had a hollow look in their eyes; they looked just like every other traveler under Owen's command, something took them over! But why did they only take over the WOLs; they could have taken over Soren and the group and taken them out that way…when Sukia took me over how did she take full control…at the time I was being controlled I was riddled with doubt and inner turmoil…that's it!

"Sena is there a spell that can give me mental connection with others?"

"Not a spell but…I might be able to link items giving you connection to the person who has it. It's an experimental method but i-it might work." We don't have a shared item though…maybe I could count on the mythril in our weapons as a connection.

"Try the mythril on my scythe." She gave a confused look before putting her hands to it and muttering a strange language under her breath; suddenly the metal gave a glow and then Sena gave a confident nod.

"Now think about those you want to connect with and if they have a connecting item then you'll be able to communicate with them." All right…concentrate…Soren…Alice…Gareth…hear me…please; the metal began to glow and three faces appeared on them, I did it!

 **Soren**

Damn it, he's tiring me out the more I work to dodge his attacks; I don't know why he has that hollow look in his eye but it's different than with Alice or Gareth, this isn't turmoil emptiness but something else is in control! As I dodged and blocked his attacks my left blade suddenly began to glow; pushing him back I looked to see Alice, Gareth and Lissa on the blade; what was happening?

"Guys listen!" Lissa said with a worried look on her face, "The Warriors of Light are being controlled by entities that have controlled other travelers."

"What do you mean?" Alice asked with a pensive look on her face; she wasn't faring any better than I was right now.

"Remember when I told you about the hollow look in the other traveler's eyes? I always thought that they were being controlled by something and I was right, that's what's happening to the warriors."

"But how can we break it? I'd rather not kill Pent." Gareth said with a worried and cautious look on his face.

"They are being controlled by their doubt, whatever is causing them to doubt you have to bring them around and be quick; if you don't hurry they might be lost to whatever took them over." So I have to break Kent from his doubt.

"I don't know how though." Alice said.

"Me either." Gareth added, "One minute we were watching the fight against Kent and Soren and the next he's trying to rip me a new one!"

"Same here." Alice added. So Kent and me started this? Taking a quick glance at where the screens were I noticed that Gareth and Alice were also on the defensive like I was as they were attacked by their respective enemies…that's it!

"Alice, Gareth when Kent and I stop fighting I want you to turn their attention to us again. Keep your eyes on the screen." They both gave a nod and the connection cut off. I returned to defending against Kent blocking and dodging his hits as I thought about how to get Kent back; that look wasn't wild like the others though, it was focused and seemed locked on me…maybe I could try that! With a quick block I rolled to the size and shakily stood up moving in front of the screens of the others; when he came at me I blocked his blade and when he came in with a shield bash I used my right blade pushing with all my strength and knocking his shield away from his center; quickly shoving his blade to the side I moved in and thrusted the hilt of my left blade into his chest sending him to the ground. As he looked up at me I moved to the side and motioned to the screens, "Kent I know you're in there; look up at your friends and look at their eyes." His hollow eyes seemed glued to the screen with a gaping mouth, "I know you see it, those aren't the eyes of your friends and right now they are riddled with doubt because of you!" He gave me a look of surprise before returning his attention to his friends on the screen, "I know you're the leader of your team but that gives you an even more important task. As a leader you're teammates look up to you and follow your actions, when you attacked me it made them doubt me and my friends and in that moment something else took over. There's still a chance though, you can still help them get back but you have to trust me and my friends; we've stood by you this long and I'm still willing to trust you but you have to open your heart, I don't know what made you so distrustful but if you want to help your friends than you need to open up and trust other people." He seemed frozen in place as I talked; I sheathed my blades and stepped forward extending my hand, "So please, give us a chance." I stood there frozen in time as I waited for either the open hand to grip mine or the blade to plunge through my heart…suddenly his hand extending dropping his blade and gripping mine; looking into his eyes I saw his depth return and tears well up.

"I'm…I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"Don't worry; what's important is that you came back." Looking up at the screens I could see Hana and Pent were glued to the screen, right at us I'm guessing, "Thanks Lissa."

 **Alice**

I panted heavily feeling my magical strength exhausted at the constant magical blocks with my blade; luckily Soren made it quick otherwise I might have been in quite the bind.

"Kent has realized that were not enemies, I'm guessing that you've had some doubts about us because he's been very distrustful of us but you have to realize now that we're not going to fight you. So stop this; you're being stupider than usual." Her eyes suddenly went back to normal and she gave a pout.

"Sorry, I'm was being stupid." She said and then she hit her own head in shame.

"It's okay…it could have been worse, you've got some powerful magic though."

"And your magical enchanting is top notch."

"Hehe, damn right it is…and Lissa has skill to so don't doubt our group." I turned to the screen and looked at Lissa's screen, "Thanks Lissa, you…you did pretty well."

 **Gareth**

Dropping my axe to the ground I flopped onto my butt exhausted; he's got some fast punches and their strength is amazing; if I had slipped up even a little it would have ended badly for me.

"I think we're done; Kent isn't fighting anymore; I know you've had reservations about us but we've never held any ill will towards you guys. I would have been up to fighting you but I didn't for two very important reasons. Soren never attacked Kent and I knew that he had a reason for that and two…you're our teammate; I learned that life is about more than just me and I can't just worry about my teammates which means you to." His eyes suddenly went back to normal and he stood up with a look of shame in his eyes.

"I apologize for the way I acted; as a monk I am ashamed to say I let my reason and sense waver."

"Yeah well…don't worry; if Soren or Alice said that you were evil I might waver to. Friends have that affect."

"Very true." Pent replied with a hearty laugh.

"Yeah…hell even Lissa would make me second guess myself." Turning to the screen I gave a thumbs up at Lissa's, "Thanks a ton, I owe you one Lissa!"

 **Lissa**

"Thanks Lissa."

"Thanks Lissa, you…you did pretty well."

"Thanks a ton, I owe you one Lissa!" As they thanked me I felt my heart race and my body heat up; they thanked me for helping them in bringing back the Warriors of Light, as they all gave me a friendly smile I felt like I wanted to cry. For the first time in years I felt like I was cared about; to Soren, Alice and Gareth I didn't just feel like someone they could use like Owen saw me or a useless waste of space like my father saw me…it didn't feel self-delusional, I actually felt from their looks that they cared about me…brother, I finally found friends. As I was absorbed in my head I felt Sena tap my shoulder and turned to her.

"With your help my friends came back to their sense…thank you for saving them; you and your friends." She gave me a bow and I felt a blush of embarrassment come over my face.

"Oh n-n-n-no it was nothing r-really." Suddenly a sliding sound was heard and I looked over to see a path open up; looking up I saw the same thing happen in all the other rooms, guess we have to head into the hallway. With an assuring look Sena and I walked into the hallway towards a bright light at the end of the path; was there another trial in front of us we had to face or was it over? Guess we'll know when we reach the end.

 **Soren**

As we walked into the light I felt my vision become blinded but I moved through pushing along with Kent behind me; on the other end of the light was a large room with a pedestal at the end of it, guess we were at the end. Looking around I saw the rest of the group had shown up through different entry ways; looking at the end I saw someone standing next to Lissa…it was that girl from our world!

"Lissa!" Alice, Gareth and I moved over to Lissa giving her general thanks for the support at which she shyly said it was no big deal; I turned to the girl next to her and she gave me a look of confusion.

"So you ended up here. I didn't expect it after meeting you at the library." She tilted her head confused.

"S-sorry but I-I don't think we've met."

"What?"

"Sena!" The Warriors of Light rushed past me at her with excited and relieved looks on their faces.

"We were so worried." Hana said giving her a tight hug.

"You're squeezing too tight Hana." With that Hana let go laughing embarrassed at her action.

"It's good to have you back, now I can fight to the fullest!" Pent said giving Sena a pat on the back.

"Be careful, I can't heal all wounds."

"I'm glad your back, it wasn't the same without you in our group." Kent said putting his hand on her shoulder sympathetically.

"I'm glad we're all back together Kent…and I'm glad you finally trusted someone after all these years."

"Well, I can't let my hang ups affect my friends...even the new ones." He said looking at us; it was freaky to think I made progress with…well, myself…but if that isn't the girl that I met back on earth then where is her earth double…it feels like she should be here as well if we met her double. As I thought I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to see Lissa had tapped me.

"I know what you're thinking…and your right; her double is here…it's me." Lissa!?

"But that would mean we've met before…on earth…just a few days ago!"

"I'll explain everything soon…I'm ready to tell you guys my story." We all gave a gasp; we've known her for a while and now we were going to find out what led her up to this point.

"Are you sure?" Alice asked.

"I'm positive…after all you guys treat me like a friend and I can feel it's genuine…i-it is genuine…r-r-right?" She asked getting nervous.

"Of course." I said confidently.

"You better believe it!" Gareth said smacking his chest with vigor and a big smile; we turned to Alice and she twirled her hair before looking at Lissa.

"At first I thought that I would never be able to trust you after what you did; I expected Soren to give you his trust and Gareth has a big heart so I knew he would open up to you eventually…but I tried my hardest to keep my distance…but then you risked your life for me, you protected me from Jarek and showed that you weren't the same person you were when we met and I believe that. You've saved us three times since you've joined us and proved that you are working with us and showed that your our friend…and I'm glad that I can now consider you as one…sorry for the way I've acted up to now." Suddenly Lissa moved in giving Alice a hug at which she blushed embarrassed as Gareth snickered while I looked at them glad with how far Alice has come, she's finally let go of the past and gave Lissa the trust that she has worked hard to earn.

"I can't tell you right now but when we get back to the airship I'll explain everything." She said ending the hug wiping her eyes; I should at least find something out.

"Can you at least tell us your real name?" She gave me a look of surprise and giggled.

"You've seen this enough time haven't you?"

"I had a hunch, mind telling us?"

"Sure, call me Lily…it's what my mother and brother called me."

"It's good to hear your real name, Lily." She gave me a shy smile in return.

"Lily…it sounds a lot better than Lissa I'll tell you that." Alice said reassuring her.

"Sounds like a pretty name." Gareth said making Lily blush deeply.

"Th-thanks." Lily said embarrassed at what Gareth said.

"It's great we've had this little heart to heart as a group but let's return to the situation at hand." Alice said pointing to the Warriors of Light who were currently climbing the stairs to the top; time for us to finish up here.

We climbed to meet them and looked to see an amazing sight; it was a giant dragon that sat on the throne of the Citadel, next to it stood smaller dragons that were only about as tall as Gareth and Pent who were slightly taller than us. The throne dragon opened its eyes and looked down on all of us eyeing each of us over with a stalwart look on his face; suddenly he extended his wings and hands overshadowing all of us.

"Warriors of Light; you have passed my trial with the aid of your companions and made it to the main chamber of the Citadel; I am the Dragon King and I look over the Citadel bringing those who are worthy of becoming heroes to this castle and testing them to prove their worth. You have overcome your doubts as a group by relying on each other and made it to me Warriors of Light." He turned to Alice, Gareth, Lily and I, "And you four have shown determination and trust in each other refusing to give up. Whether you fight or try to convince someone you do not give up; your will and faith in each other has brought you to me." This Dragon King wasn't just a tester of the Warriors of Light; that feeling I felt as I moved down the first hall came from him; he was more than he appeared to be, "Now I grant the eight of you the power of heroes!" He gave a fearsome roar and I watched as a column of light enveloped everyone around me eventually falling onto me blinding me; when it disappeared I looked no different but something inside me felt different…my heart and soul felt stronger, "Kent, you are now the Knight; capable of incredible sword skills and shield abilities as well as white magic spells. Hana, you are now a Black Wizard; you can devastate enemies to dust with your powerful black magic spells. Pent, you are now the Master; capable of powerful and diverse close combat power and skill that can take your enemies apart quickly. Sena, you are now the White Wizard; capable of healing spells that can bring those on the brink of death back to full health with the snap of your fingers." I turned to see they had confident smiles on their face and determination lit in their eyes, "Lily, you are now the Reaper; capable of incredible scythe skills and speed that can send your enemies to the grave with a single swipe; but as a reaper you have the power to bring those on the brink back into play as it is not their time in your eyes. Gareth, you are the Earth Breaker; with your large battle axe and skilled movements you can take apart you foes with your incredible strength with enough power to cleave the earth apart at your command and the strength to protect those in need at a moment's notice. Alice, you are the Enchantress; with the speed and skill of your katana you are a force to be reckoned with but with your magical enchantments you and your allies become a force of nature with your powerful magic added to your weapons. Soren, you are the Twilight blade; with your dual blades you not only fight with your incredible speed and skill but you power your allies and weaken your foes with your foes with you diverse back and white status altering spells, you become a source of power for your friends and a source of weakness for your enemies." So I was not only faster and more skilled but my magical talent was also increased…at least to help those around me…that's perfect for me, "Now go brave heroes and save this world from the darkness!" With that a bright light enveloped us again and when it faded I looked around to see we were back on the airship; we were still floating in the air but the sun had set and the moon was in full shine. Looking around everyone was here and each of us felt stronger in our own way and with this power we would save this world and show not only the villain of this world but Owen that we can't be stopped no matter how hard he tries to alter this world in his favor! You can't stop us, we've come this far and with Lily as a true friend of our group the three of us- no, the four of us were stronger than ever before. That wasn't just it though; soon we wouldn't just be stronger but we would have the answers we've been searching for since we ended up in this traveler mess; it felt more important than I felt I could even comprehend, whatever was happening it felt bigger than just one world…even bigger than the three worlds I've been to…and I would find out why!


	15. Chapter 15

"Okay the tank is filled!" Gareth said knocking on the barrel showing how full it was; with Sena's help we were able to find a fresh water source and fill our tank with water for the showers on the air ship. She had a surprisingly detailed memory of all of the rivers in the land as well as which one had the cleanest water we could use; with her amazing memory we were able to finish the map Lily made giving us full detail on the world to work with. Apparently she had planned out how the Warriors of Light would get through the starting area in great detail which explains how Kent knew where to go and what to do; it seems Sena is the brains behind the WOLs…great even I'm using Gareth's acronym.

"Let's bring it up then." Kent said taking one end of the barrel with Pent while Gareth and I took the other end; a hundred liters of water is a lot heavier than I thought it would be, we shuffled across the grass and placed the tank of water into the under carriage of the airship. Getting through the lower area of the ship we moved the water to the piping room and put it into the center, "Whew…that's heavier than it looks and it looked pretty heavy to begin with."

"Hey Gareth which pipe connects to the shower?" He pointed to a pipe on the left and I grabbed the tube connecting it to the T pipe opening, "There, now the girls can shower."

"Good." I turned around to see all four of the girls standing there, "I really didn't want to keep smelling like monster blood." Alice said.

"Well then you'd better be quick; 100 liters of water go fast if you sit around." Pent said tapping the barrel. With that they headed off entering the shower room and closing the door behind them; guess now we've got about an hour to waste while they shower…I'm kind of interested to see what I can do now with that upgrade I got.

"Hey Soren." Gareth said making me turn my attention to him, "I think we're both thinking the same thing so you want to spar and see what we can do!" I gave him a grin in return.

"You're a mind reader Gareth."

Pulling two wooden swords from the rack I stood on one end of the deck ready for Gareth to face me; he pulled a wooden battle axe off the shelf and stood on the other end of the deck ready for me. Alright Soren, deep breath…in…out…okay! I dashed forward at Gareth and he shifted his body facing the blade of his axe to the ground; he's going to try to block against my attack, getting close enough I struck his axe with my right blade and thrusted my left blade through his opening but as my blade went under his hilt he suddenly pushed down making my blade go through the gap between his legs. He then pushed forward making me drop my main blade and stagger backwards.

"I'm not going to let you use my openings to your advantage Soren and now you only have one blade." Shifting the blade from my right hand to my left and gripping it with both hands I switched stance.

"Don't forget I can do just as well with one blade Gareth, this fight is far from over." Gareth jumped forward raising his axe to the sky and slamming it down as I rolled forward under him and swinging my blade on his back making him stagger forward before turning and swinging at me making me fall backwards; he's stronger than before and even more resourceful…but so am I! Rolling backwards onto my feet I grabbed my second blade back into my right hand and raised my left blade to the sky, "Haste!" As I shouted a red light twirled down from my blade enveloping me and I could feel my mind and reflexes sharpen in an instant but the most amazing thing was that I felt like I could keep fighting after I cast it; it was the first spell I've cast that didn't make me feel exhausted after casting it. Leaping forward I stood in front of him building up a spin strike as he got into a blocking position; got him, shifting I side stepped and rolled behind him making four quick strikes with my blades on his back. As I stood there he gave me a smirk and swung backwards catching me in the chest knocking me backwards.

"As fast as you are those blows can't shake my defense; with incredible strength I also have a great defense." His speed may not be good but his attack and defense are even more powerful to compensate; my speed, attack and defense are fare with my speed being slightly better with haste, guess I was going to need a bit more attack to have a chance to break through his defense.

"Temper!" With that my attack power increased I rushed forward and Gareth widened his stance; what's he planning? Moving to his side I took a quick swipe but he blocked it, moving around him he blocked every attack I threw at him from all sides somehow being on the defense from every angle.

"Like my defense? Pent taught me about how positioning and stance can give you more abilities to take on enemies who can maneuver around me."

"Definitely didn't expect that but I'm not done yet!" Backing up I pointed my blade at him, "Hold!" A beam shot form the tip hitting Gareth and making him freeze in place.

"I-I can't…move!" Gareth said trying to shift and move.

"This fight is done now!" Rushing forward I swiped and slashed across his chest with a barrage of dual strikes still influenced by haste and temper; with my last hit in a 20 hit combo he fell backwards onto the deck exhausted.

"Well…I lose again." Gareth said with a sigh; moving forward I outstretched my hand to him.

"Without my enhancements I would have been no match for your stances and strength; I don't think I would have been able to get through your defense either." He grabbed my hand and gave a laugh.

"Well I'll make sure to kick your butt next time then, even with your abilities."

"I'll take you on anytime."

"Well if you're done with that it's your turn for a shower." We looked over to see Alice drying her hair and putting it back into her casual ponytail that left hair still falling down her face.

"No thanks, I'll skip it." I said waving away her offer at which she gave me an angry look.

"We left you guys water so you could take a shower!" Grabbing my ear she started pulling me with her, "I refuse to let any of you continue to reek of monster blood while I'm here!"

"Okay, okay, okay!" I said as she pushed me into the shower room; eventually the rest of the guys showed up each with a sore look on their faces; I'm guessing they ran into the same pissed off Alice who dragged me here.

"Let's get this over with." Kent said with a sigh.

"Clean bodies promote a clean mind." Pent said stripping down…I refuse to look down.

With my shower finished I headed for one of the rooms and entered to see Alice and Lily sitting on the bed; they were wearing simple baggy clothing fit for sitting at home and doing nothing, I guess those were their PJs. I was just wearing my shirt and pants with my coat slung on a hook nearby while my boots were right under the coat as I wore the socks; they beckoned me over and I walked over sitting on one side of the bed and looked over to see Gareth had entered the room as well.

"Here I thought I would have to track you down." Alice said snidely.

"What did you need us for?"

"I told you, I have a story to tell you." Lily said catching everyone's attention, "I-It might take a little bit and I didn't want the others to hear us s-so I wanted to wait till we decided to turn in for the night.

"Well we're all ears." Gareth said ready for her to speak; she took a deep breath getting ready to tell us a long story of her past and we were ready to hear everything she had to say.

"As a child I had a loving family; my mother who loved me with all her heart, my father who supported and protected me and my brother who stood by my side through thick and thin always making sure that I was never alone. It was great, I never felt scared because I had my family by my side…then it happened; I was fourteen and me and my brother had just gotten off school…we got home and found out that mother had died in a car crash on her way home. It was awful, to think that the mother my brother and I had since we were born was suddenly gone, without any trace; it hurt all of us…but it tore our father apart more than anything. He shut himself off from us, for the longest time he seemed distant from me and brother…but that didn't stop my brother; he stood tall in the face of all of this and protected me. With all that happened to us he took the mantle and held strong giving his all to look over me in our mothers death and fathers distance; I looked up to him, he stayed strong and didn't waver because he knew that I needed him…and I loved him for it. Eventually my father became even worse, he turned to the bottle in order to cope and while he was drinking we felt the sting of his copping; as he drank he became filled with rage and…he b-became violent. For the next few years my brother and I were yelled and beaten by our father in his rage and depression and as I cried my brother refused to let his tears show; he stayed strong for me and protected me as best he could. My brother always felt strongly that if he could protect what mattered than he would; even if he wasn't strong enough he wouldn't let those he cares about be hurt and he stood by that…until…u-until…u-u-until…h-he d-d-d-died." As she said that she started crying; Alice pulled her into a hug and she wiped away the tears pulling away from the hug, "One day my father became much more violent than usual and he took a knife from the kitchen; eyeing me he ranted and raved about how I looked just like mother and it made him angry. He came at me with the knife and as he thrusted towards me I clenched my eyes shut…I heard the sound of a painful groan and when I opened my eyes I was shocked to see my brother had moved in front of me and taken the knife. I sat there frozen as my brother turned to me and gave me a smile as he said the last words I heard from him, 'You're safe…I'm…glad…I could…protect you…Lily.' As the light left his eyes I felt my world fall apart, my heart break and the confidence I've had with my brother vanish in an instant. As the body of my brother fell to the ground I looked up to see the look in my father's eyes; they were still malicious and angry, he was still out to kill me and in that moment I felt the fear and terror consume me as I sat there. I was about to die and my brother had protected me for nothing; this was it and I had wasted my brother's life…it was my entire fault. Then a bright white light enveloped me and when it disappeared I was in an entirely different place. The truth is I'm not a gamer; never even touched any games but I loved books; mostly records and history books but there was one story that I loved to read over and over again Alice's Adventure in Wonderland…and that's where I had ended up, falling down the rabbit hole. When it was over I sat there wallowing in the despair I had just experienced not an hour ago…then he approached me as I cried my eyes out, Owen reached out his hand and gave me a reason to stand. He said that if I followed him he could bring my brother back from the dead…and all I had to do was follow his every order. That's exactly what I did to; I became stronger and followed his every order, disturbing the order of worlds and bringing every traveler over to our side, I didn't question it and did what I could to see my brother again. It didn't matter though; I only cared about getting Lest back and go home…even if it meant I would die."

"What!?" We all said in surprise; if she was taken to another world in the middle of being attacked by her father than that means she's going right back into that situation when she gets back to earth…wait, "Because of that I took my mother's name knowing that I would eventually join her, so my name became Lissa Tesit.

"Then what about the you I met a few days ago on earth?"

"I'll get to that Soren, p-please be patient." She replied, "One day my entire ideals were thrown into turmoil with one person…Soren. Upon first meeting him I didn't find too much of a problem with him; even as I was being controlled by Sukia I didn't even think about how Soren affected the situation…but then he pulled himself out of situation after situation with his will and strength but not for his own survival…he pulled through to protect Alice with all his strength no matter how strong. It was like I was looking at my brother protect me and stand by me all over again. Even as the situation passed I still felt this lump in my throat whenever I looked at Soren and it wouldn't go away; in my dreams he and my brother became one person and even as I watched you three in the Mushroom kingdom I felt like I couldn't look him in the eye. Owen could feel my hesitation and gave me a chance to see my world again; as I walked back in my world I felt lonely, without my brother it felt like I was nothing in this world. In that moment I felt assured that I wanted to bring back Lest; I didn't want to feel that alone when I came back again…even if I never came back again. Then we came to this world and when I looked at Soren as he sat there with an intense fire in his eyes as he lied there in pain I felt like I was looking at my brother protecting me in his final moments…and then it's what he said that made me want to protect him like my brother protected me, 'You won't stop me! As long as I can still fight I will never let you hurt those I care about!' Those words took me back to how my brother acted; he always said he wanted to protect what he still could and that to fight what was already lost was protecting nothing…so I decided in that moment that I would protect what I could in the here and now…and let go of him. That's why I'm here now; I wanted to atone for what I did by protecting not only protecting those I hurt but those who hold my brothers ideals…but as I traveled with you guys I felt like I wasn't alone anymore; you cared about me and talked to me like I was a friend and you even protected me and relied on me as a friend and companion. Ever since I became a traveler I felt alone but you guys made me feel like I did when I stood by my brother…no…even more than my brother because it wasn't just you guys protecting me but all of us working together to protect and rely on each other as companions…and friends. Thank you." As she said that last sentence she cried with a big smile on her face as she looked at all of us, "Thank you all so much! For so long it's been just me and my brother and when it was just me it was even worse…now I have you guys…friends I'm willing to fight for and protect." I pulled her into a hug surprising her and Alice and Gareth.

"And we'll protect you as well, you aren't alone anymore and you never will be as long as we're here." As I said that Alice wrapped her arms around us.

"That's right; we will protect you because we trust that you will protect us as well." Gareth warped his arms around us as well.

"You have us…and none of us are leaving each other's side for any reason!" We sat there in the moment as we all felt the same feeling of companionship and trust for each other…these were three friends I never wanted to be separated from again.

That night I dreamed the dream I always have; as I sat there looking at the door I looked behind to see my three friends Alice, Gareth and Lily giving me confident looks; when I entered the door my sister was there again and as she spoke in an unintelligible language I didn't feel angry. Behind me stood my friends and as my sister talked it didn't affect me as it usually did, with my friends behind me it didn't affect me as much as by myself…I smiled and laughed as she talked and I felt like I could laugh forever. When I opened my eyes though she was on the ground with holes in her body and a gun in my hand covered in blood; why was this still happening, my anger didn't get the better of me and she is still dead by my hand…why!?

I sprung from the bed and heard a thump as something fell out of the bed; turning I saw Kent had fallen to the floor from my sudden movement.

"Geez man! What was that about?" Kent said rubbing the back of his head which had been bruised when he fell out of our shared bed.

"Sorry…bad dream."

"I know we have to share a bed but don't spaz out like that. It freaks me out." Kent said standing up.

"I'll be careful…also thanks for letting us keep traveling with you even after finding Sena."

"Yeah…well I suppose…it's just…I owe you for knocking some sense into me without having to knock some sense into me." He said bashfully looking away and still rubbing the back of his head; he really isn't good at admitting when he's wrong…kind of reminds me of how Alice acts, "Let's get moving; we've got two more crystals to find!"

"Right!"

When everyone was up and about we all headed for the cockpit as Lily unfurled the map and placed it on a table at which we all gathered around; with Sena's knowledge we decided to head towards Onrac at her knowledge.

"There's apparently a robot behind a waterfall that has been there for five hundred years. All records of it said it was waiting for the warriors that would break the sky and let in the light; it's a wild guess but I'm predicting that it's waiting for the Warriors of Light…but that's not all." She pointed to a dessert near the town, "Rumors from Cornelia revealed that a caravan in the dessert here has a fairy for sale."

"Why do we need a fairy?" Gareth asked and she pointed to a far town at the end of the map.

"The city of Gaia has a lake there with fairies. That lake has a powerful substance called oxyale that allows people to breath underwater with it."

"So with that we'll be able to travel under water?" Alice asked and Sena nodded in response, "But I don't think that we can just swim to the bottom of the ocean with it being acidic."

"True but there's someone in Onrac who's been working on a submarine for traversing the acidic water with its metal hull; unfortunately it can't allow anyone inside to breath underwater…lucky for us the oxyale will solve that little problem for us." She had a meticulous and thought through plan that even left me surprised; even as she was trapped for almost a week she still held information about important towns and rumors, her memory was something else; she could even rival an elephant for the best memory ever, "In order to get as much done as possible we'll split up into two groups; one group with go buy the fairy while the other group visits the robot."

"Since the robot is looking for the Warriors of Light I think you four should visit him while the four of us go get the fairy." I said motioning to Alice, Gareth and Lily; she gave me a nod and Kent took the helm of the ship causing the ship to rise to the sky; with a swift travel through the sky and a queasy trip across my stomach we landed near the town of Onrac and went our separate ways to get our respective jobs done. We moved across the small dessert battling different dessert worms and bugs as we approached an oasis with a man sitting in front of a blanket with all types of items on top of it; as we came up to him he changed from a bored look to a very fake smile with a nod.

"Welcome kind travelers what brings you to the desert?"

"We heard about a fairy for sale." Gareth said wiping his brow from the heat.

"You my friend look like you could use a bottle of water. Only 700 gold."

"700 gold!? That's an outrageous price!" Alice said pissed off at his unreasonable prices.

"Water in the desert is not easy to come by, I have to keep my prices reasonable."

"I don't t-think those prices are reasonable." Lily said trying to help.

"That's right! Look at this, 200 gold for a potion!? That's four times the normal price!" Alice said trying to prove her point.

"Supply and demand my friends. Now either buy something or be gone with you." The seller said shooing us away.

"We were looking to buy that fairy you have." I said pointing to the bottle with a light glow inside it; as I looked at it I noticed the bottle slightly rattle from side to side with the fairy trying to break her way out.

"That will be 40,000 gold."

"Gah! That's a lot of gold!" I said surprised; looking through my bag I saw I only had 20,000 right now, "How about 20,000 for the fairy?"

"Sorry but it's too rare for me to give to you for only 20,000." Damn it, he's not willing to barter; as I contemplated what to do Gareth moved past me giving me a wink; he must have a plan up his sleeve.

"Listen buddy I know that you want to sell this fairy and based on the look of things you've been at this for a while…you know fairies don't last long and if I'm right she's nearing her end." Gareth said and the seller got a worried look on his face.

"R-Really?"

"Yep, I'd be surprised if you got even a single gold piece for this fairy after tomorrow." The seller got a panicked look on his face looking from the bottle to me.

"A-Alright, I'll let you buy it for…25,000." Still too high!

"I think the fairies light is starting to fade."

"Fine, fine! 15,000 but that's as low as I'm going." Perfect! I gave him the 15,000 and grabbed the bottled fairy; looking inside I noticed the fairy was coughing a wheezing, it must not have had water for a few days.

"I'll also take that bottle of water." I said and he opened his hand as I placed the 700 into his hand and grabbed the bottle; opening up the bottle of water and the fairy bottle I watched as the fairy jumped out of her bottle and stuck her head into the water bottle.

"Ah!" She said with satisfaction, "Thank you for the water. That man wouldn't give me a single drop!"

"Well I'm glad I could help you." I said and she giggled.

"Well you definitely saved my cute little butt. I don't know how I can repay you."

"I'll cash that favor later, for now let's get you home to Gaia." I said and her eyes lit up.

"All right then!" With that she flew up and sat on my shoulder with a satisfied smile.

"You're a tiny lady killer aren't you?" Gareth said nudging me; I looked over to see Lily giggling while Alice had an angry look on her face.

"No matter how many times I say it you don't seem to listen." Huh, "Now is not the time to be flirting!" With that she punched me in the head with all her force.

"OW! That hurts a lot more than normal." I said rubbing my new bruise.

"I think the upgrade increased her strength." Lily said enlightening the situation.

"Wasn't it bad enough before?" Gareth put his hand on my other shoulder and suddenly started laughing before looking at me with a big smile on his face.

"No."

"That doesn't help Gareth."

"I know…and it's still funny." Damn it.


	16. Chapter 16

Once the warriors returned to the ship I showed them the fairy we had bought and they showed us a strange cube they got from the robot; It was small and only needed one hand to hold it, it was also very light, almost seemed hollow.

"Why did he give you a weightless cube?" I asked and Kent shrugged.

"He just handed us the cube and then went silent, when I tried to get his attention he seemed immobile and stiff; as though he would never move again."

"So he shut down…seems he was waiting for that moment and when it came he finally shut down done with his duty." Alice said sure of her guess.

"Well now we have a cube…I'm n-not sure what it does though?" Sena said looking at it from every angle.

"Well we can worry about that later, for now we have what we need to advance to the water crystal." Pent said pointing to the fairy on my shoulder; now that we had her we could acquire the oxyale and enter the submarine to get to the bottom of the ocean where the water crystal was, hopefully it had the hull to survive the corrosive water, "Let's head for Gaia to return the fairy."

"I have a name!" The tiny girl said with an angry pout on her face, "It's Wendy."

"Well then Wendy, let's get you home." I said and she beamed happily.

"Right!" As Kent began piloting us towards the far mountains Gareth took to the lower area of the ship to avoid getting motion sick while the rest of us stayed on the deck; I made sure to stay near the center to avoid getting vertigo while Lily and Sena sat in the crow's nest while Hana went to the cockpit while Pent began training. I looked over to see Alice looking over the side with a smile on her face as she took in a deep breath; letting it out I could sense she was feeling exhilarated and energetic as she looked down at the land.

"Are you enjoying the view?" I asked from where I stood and she turned with the same smile on her face.

"Yep, even if it's dangerous I still enjoy the moments like these when we travel to different worlds; with all the turmoil and fighting we deal with it's nice to breath the fresh air and walk through the world…and yet you stand there not even enjoying it, is your vertigo that bad?"

"Well I just think about how I could fall at any moment and my vision starts to blur and my head spins."

"Oh don't let that stop you." Grabbing me she dragged me to the edge and as I looked down I felt my sense begin to spin until she wrapped her arm around me; looking at her she had a redness to her cheeks, "If you're so scared of falling then I'll hold onto you so you don't fall."

"Well…thanks Alice."

"It's just because I don't want you falling…but you're welcome." As I looked out at the tiny far away land I felt safe with Alice holding onto me, guess this view is pretty nice…why is my heart racing so fast then…and why are my cheeks so hot?

 **Gareth**

"Ohhh…this is not going well…urp!" I felt my stomach try to bring up my breakfast as the ship soared through the sky towards Gaia; having motion sickness wasn't the most ideal of situations and definitely hindered any short travels on buses.

"H-Hey Gareth?" I turned to the door to see Lily standing there with a book in her hands.

"Wh-urp…what's up?" I asked holding back the vomit currently wanting to make its appearance on the wood floor; not if I could help it though.

"Well…I found this book on the ship and apparently it lists techniques for conquering motion sickness."

"R…Really?"

"Y-Yep! Here." She opened the book and as I looked at the words I felt my stomach do even more twists and turns; might not be a good idea to try to look at something while moving, "Oh! S-Sorry, I forgot about that…most car trips aren't a problem…guess it's the perks of being a book worm." She giggled nervously and I gave a weak laugh.

"It's okay…I think I'll just sleep until we get to Gaia. Would you mind waking me when we get there?"

"Sure…a-and if you want I can h-help you get to sleep with a story." She said pulling out a strange book, "I found this a few towns back a-and decided to get it. These stories m-might help you sleep." A story…sounds kind of nice actually.

"Sure. Give me your best one." I said hopping into the nearby bed as she opened the book of fairytales and flipped through them.

"This is called: the princesses' dragon." She read the story aloud with her eyes glued to the words as she read it to me; it was a story about a princess who's kidnaped by a dragon only to learn that the dragon was just lonely and wanted someone to spend time with, he chose the princess because of her understanding nature and kind smile that drew him to her. They bonded in the time of her capture and the dragon agreed to let her go but then the king's knights showed up ready to defeat the dragon and as the princess tried to stop them they eventually slew him as he didn't want to fight back…he didn't want to hurt anyone but they wouldn't listen…because he was a dragon…isn't that the truth. In his final moments he didn't regret capturing the princess because she was the first person to care about him; as he died the princess wept tears of sorrow that confused the knights and king, to cry for a beast was strange…eventually the princess became queen and vowed to protect the dragons with every fiber of her being, she would not see them killed for just being dragons, "The end…are you okay Gareth?" Lily gave me a concerned look and I felt something wet fall down my cheek.

"Nothing…this story just hits close to home for me." I replied wiping it away.

"If it's not too much trouble would you mind telling me?" She asked meekly.

"It's something pretty basic is all, racism still exist in very twisted forms; back home I was accused for crimes when I passed by to see what was wrong, all because I was black. I was never taken to jail but it hurt to think I was judged for how I looked, being an orphan didn't help either; being an orphan meant to the cops that I had nothing to lose so I must have done it but that wasn't me. I kept my nose pretty clean, except when I snuck out at night to head for the hill but it wasn't illegal to stargaze. If it wasn't for Alice and Soren I might have made the same mistake. I would have done something stupid and effectively ended my life because I was alone, but I don't want to make that mistake."

"I never thought you would." Lily replied making me give her a quizzical look at which she became flustered, "I j-j-just mean that you a-always try to find the positive in situations. You try to cheer people up when their down even if it seems impossible and I-I-I believe that you would have made friends regardless because of your g-good nature." So that's what she meant…she really can capture the tinniest details can't she?

"Even so…I'm glad I met Soren and Alice…and you…after everything we've all been through as travelers and as earthlings in our normal lives were all still alive, we've all made it this far because we persevered. Soren protected each of us at some point and still got back up to fight again despite his own problems that he had to face, Alice overcame her weaknesses and continued to move to not only help herself but help us as well, I learned that there are some things more important than my own happiness and by protecting those I care about we all become happier together instead of my own hollow happiness…and you Lily; you realized that you couldn't continue to support what you knew was wrong and protected Soren in his hour of need, with that you joined us and became a valuable ally and friend to all of us…you even got rid of Alice's doubt, that's awesome. Now we're all friends and I know we can do anything together!" Once I finished my monologue I looked over to see Lily with a deep crimson blush on her face as she swung from left to right mumbling to herself; she was actually pretty adorable with how shy she was.

"W-W-W-Well th-th-thank you G-G-Gareth…that's very sw-sw-sweet. I'm glad I met all of you guys to…it feels better than being alone."

"Hey I have a question. If you sided with Owen then didn't that mean you were working with a team?"

"No…every mission was a solo mission because we were dealing with new travelers, there was never any need to work together…until you guys came around. When Damien wasn't enough they sent me to help but I wasn't much help."

"That's a good thing; I don't think I even wanted to go up against you in a serious fight."

"Hehe, well even so you guys would have kicked our butts. When we came to this world he tried getting a three on three with him helping but we saw how that ended."

"Yeah…hey what did he mean by he was going to get something back from you?"

"I'm guessing he meant my succubus part; from Sukia's backstory I'm guessing he wants her back…which means he's going to try and kill me…" As she sat there she began to tremble and had a look of fear and despair on her face; moving out of bed I put my hand on hers and gave her a confident smile.

"Don't worry, we'll make sure you don't die,, I'll personally protect you." She gave a look of surprise and then gave a small giggle wiping her eyes.

"That makes me feel better…but I can't rely on you to protect me, I want to help everyone and I can't do that while I'm being protected." What?

"Who said I was going to protect you from all harm?" It was her turn to give me a quizzical look and I laughed, "We're a team; you, me, Alice and Soren are all working together to protect each other. That means each of us are going to get a little dirty but we'll be there to protect each other when we need it…I expect you to have my back when I need it as well." She gave me a confident look and nod, "Good then let's make sure we protect each other…or it might end badly for Soren and Alice as well as us, we're a team."

"Right!"

"And we'll call ourselves the Avenging wrecking balls!" She laughed loudly and I felt my cheeks heat up in embarrassment as she laughed out loud; everyone usually just give me a weird look but she laughed…it was nice to see she found it funny but even more embarrassing than being given a weird look.

"I think you should revise the name…I'll help you…but then we have to check with Alice and Soren."

"Alice will just shoot it down."

"Not if we make it awesome…r-right?" I gave a chuckle feeling my heart race at this bonding feeling.

"Right."

 **Soren**

Once we touched down near Gaia Wendy started soaring around my head squealing happily; she must be excited to finally be so close to home, I wonder how long she's been gone, must have been years from how ecstatic she was. We walked into town and Wendy flew away towards the forest getting engulfed in the forest; guess we were going to need to follow her into it.

"I'm going to go magic shopping with Hana." Sena said as Hana stood next to her waving at us.

"Well I'm going to go see what the weapon shop has to offer." Kent said.

"And I'm going to go restock us at the item shop; those who aren't prepared are doomed to failure." Pent said sounding insightful…monks are weird.

"Then I guess the four of us will go check on the fairy and grab the oxyale." I said turning to the others who all nodded; with that we all separated with the four of us heading into the forest; eventually we came across a small lake with fairies surrounding it and flying over it happily content with their lives.

"This place is so peaceful." Lily said in amazement as fairies came over and flew around us examining us all.

"It's like a tiny paradise." Gareth said as one of the fairies landed on his hand.

"This place is filled with nature." Alice said looking around at the greenery and lush forest surrounding the lake; it was kind of mystical with how full of life it was, there was a strange mist that seem to flow over the river blocking the rivers surface from view.

"Soren!" Wendy came flying at me happily as the other fairies surrounded me all giving sounds of surprise and amazement at me, "I'm glad you came by to see my home. This is where every fairy lives; it's a sacred place that few visit."

"It's a peaceful place." I said admiring her home, "I can see why you like it here."

"Well thanks…I would like to repay you for helping me get home, is there anything you would like from me?" Before I could answer another fairy came over and whispered in Wendy's ear and she turned beat red, "No! I can't give him that…it's too embarrassing."

"I don't like what she said." Alice said with a glare at the other fairy as she giggled.

"Actually could we get some oxyale from the bottom of the lake?" I asked and Wendy returned to her senses and giving me a nod; she dove into the lake with a small plop sound, as we waited the fairies began playing with our hair…it was like having several tiny monkeys on our backs. Suddenly Wendy cane out of the lake lugging a giant bottle and dropped it into my hands, "There, that should be enough oxyale to last one person two hours."

"Two hours…Lily can you divide that by eight?" I asked turning to Lily who began counting in her head.

"Fifteen minutes per person…ten if everyone mouth breathes." Lily responded confidently.

"Hopefully that should be enough to last us to the bottom of the sea and back." Alice said thinking deeply.

"Well I'm glad I could help. Good luck with the water crystal." Wendy said wishing us good luck.

"Make sure you don't get captured by a hack merchant again Wendy. I don't want to see you in another bottle, got it?"

"Don't worry, I won't let another person trick me…but I do hope I see you again." Wendy said twisting from side to side; suddenly Alice grabbed the back of my coat and dragged me away in a huff.

"I'm getting sick of this world every time this happens, let's go!" Alice said as my feet dragged across the ground; oh well, now with the oxyale we could enter the sanctuary of water and restore the water crystal.

With everything prepared we headed for the town of Onrac with Sena plotting out our path; the biggest problem we were going to face was getting to the bottom of the sea and finding the crystal.

"Hey why are we headed for Onrac for a submarine?" I asked confused by the whole thing; it just seemed strange we were going below the sea from Onrac when we didn't know where to go.

"Actually there's a mermaid colony below Onrac, since mermaids are thought of as a connection between the earth and the water being half-human and half-fish it's the best bet anyone has on where the water crystal could be." So were visiting a mermaid colony; sounds like it'll be interesting.

"Mermaids, one of the most beautiful creatures in both looks and music prowess." Gareth said with a dreamy sounding sigh at which Lily gave a pensive look while Alice just sighed; he seemed to have a tent for mermaids…I also regret looking down while having that thought.

"Mermaids are total flirts!" Hana said in an outburst shocking all of us suddenly, "With their voice and beautiful looks they make men disappear."

"Actually-" Sena began, "Those are Sirens you're thinking of Hana."

"Sirens?" We asked and Lily pulled out her makeshift beastiary.

"I managed to encounter a few on deck protecting duty when we had the ship. A few enemies were strange looking and with Sena's great memory she was able to help me with naming them." She flipped through a few pages before stopping and showing us a page marked 'Siren' with a strange fish looking creature sketched out.

"It kind of looks like a skinny fish with its bones sticking out of its body." Kent said with a grimace on his face while looking at the picture; he was right though, it was a WRONG looking creature, strange how men fell for this."

"Fun fact-" Sena began, "Sailors who were stranded at sea for days would follow these siren's voices and when they saw them they saw nothing wrong with how they looked because of how long they had been at sea. They began to turn from ugly sirens to beautiful mermaids; it's called the mermaid clock." Wait…what? Isn't that…

"I still don't like them." Hana said pouting making Kent chuckle.

"A man is easily controlled by an unmaintained libido. Only those disciplined enough to hold back can survive being eaten." Pent said giving out another piece of monk insight.

"If that isn't true." Kent said patting him on the back.

"Is it?" I asked genuinely confused by his statement; his messages sound cool but they were kind of cryptic.

"Can we switch topics…this is locker room talk and I and I'm guessing the other females of our group would rather not be a part of this conversation." Alice said as Sena and Hana nodded their heads while Lily turned redder by the second; maybe this wasn't the best time to talk about mermaids and sirens…and libido. Touching down near Onrac we all entered the town and Sena led us to a small port with a steel vessel floating on the dark murky water; next to it stood a girl who gave us a quizzical look as we approached her.

"Is there something you two need?" She asked.

"We were wondering if we could borrow your submarine to get to the mermaid home?" Kent asked and she gave a sigh.

"As much as I would love to charge you to use my submarine-"

"Charge us?"

"-it has no air tank that can survive a trip down there, without that you can only last about a minute before you suffocate."

"Would this help?" I said pulling out the container of oxyale Wendy gave me, "It's called-"

"Oxyale! Perfect, that should give the submarine what it needs to get to the mermaid sanctuary. You eight are free to use my submarine, save our world." What? She suddenly moved back and moved behind a nearby pillar; I went to look and she was gone, vanished without a trace leaving us with her submarine…was she there just to help the Warriors of Light? It seemed like everything in this world was another piece to help the warriors in their quest; this world put their faith in the Warriors of Light so much it would be amazing to see how much they would have to bend over backwards to do this without others to help them.

"This thing is small; it might be a tight fit for all of us." Pent said knocking against the exterior as it made a hollow clatter.

"Tight…fit…I-I-I think this might be a little uncomfortable f-f-for me." Lily said fidgeting uncontrollably; she must have a big problem with closed spaces.

"Didn't you spend a lot of your time in libraries?" Alice asked a little amazed at her strange behavior.

"Libraries have large open ceilings and were never crowded. This is…too small and eight people all mushed together makes me a bit…uncomfortable…" She shuddered suddenly and Alice gave a sigh.

"Don't worry Lily; we'll knock you out before we get in."

"What!?"

"What!?" I said and she gave a nod.

"Remember that spell that knocked me out back in the Mushroom Kingdom? We can just do that." It sounds like a good idea…but problem was that Alice was out for a few hours and it will only take about five to ten minutes to reach the bottom, we can't have her out for hours when it's a short trip…maybe we could shorten the effects.

"T-T-There's a black magic spell for putting an enemy to sleep." Lily said pulling out her journal and moving to a spell index with one labeled 'sleep' with a small black dot next to it.

"You're okay with this?" I asked Lily amazed at her cooperation in this situation.

"I-I don't mind; it sounds better than passing out from the stress."

"See I think you would scream your head off before you faint." Gareth said jumping into the conversation.

"What if it's screaming and then fainting?" Alice said with a small chuckle, "Do you scream Lily?" She asked getting a little worry on her face at which Lily gave a shy shrug.

"So are we doing the sleep spell again?" Gareth asked and we gave him a nod, "So this is going to end in another threat against Soren's ass?"

"Very funny, can we move on?" I asked as Alice turned slightly red from the mention of that moment.

"Right. Well Lily, get ready." Alice pushed out her hand at Lily aggressively, "Sleep!" Within a few seconds Lily began to fall back and Gareth caught her holding her bridal style…we probably should have asked her how long it lasts before it wears off. I picked up the book and flipped to the sleep spell page…twenty minutes; that should be long enough for us to get down there and it will cut down on air consumption.

"We've got twenty minutes so shall we head down?" I said closing the book and putting it into Lily's bag; with the warriors finally done preparing we had Gareth hold Lily as we all entered the sub, once Hana came in as the sixth person it started to push me and Alice against the side of the ship while Pent and Gareth had their heads pressed against the ceiling.

"O-Okay…l-let's see how this w-works." Sena said sounding a little unsure of how to get in and close the hatch; as she got in I heard a lot of grunting and the sound of a squeaky door closing and all outside sound disappearing, "Okay we're all in…can someone reach the controls?"

"Hang on…" Kent said and suddenly I felt my weight shift as we sunk into the sea, "I didn't do that." If Kent didn't do anything then why were we sinking into the water below; I listened closely for some indication of what was happening but I couldn't hear anything…not even the sound of spinning blades pushing us.

"Hey Alice can you feel anything?" I asked and she closed her eyes trying to concentrate.

"It…kind of feels like we're being pulled." She answered; so something was pulling us towards itself which meant all we could do is wait for it to stop…I hope Lily doesn't wake up in the middle of this.

When it stopped the hatch opened on its own and I felt as the space opened up and Alice and I fell onto the submarine floor as everyone else fell out.

"Ow…who opened the door?" Alice said getting up and rubbing her back; getting up I looked out to see everyone else groaning in pain as Lily stood up woozy and rubbing her eyes, to the left of the group I saw a gaggle of mermaids standing-well…positioned upright looking at us with one holding open the hatch door.

"It is the Warriors of Light…and four clones…huh?" One of the mermaids said cocking her head looking at all of us as Alice stepped out of the sub and looked around, suddenly she was surrounded by the mermaids as they started checking her all over, "Her skin is even softer than ours and yet she looks so tough and confident."

"I thought a Warrior of Light would be well toned and muscly but she's the perfect level of muscly and yet her skin is so soft!" This was weird…it was like the Gerudos all over again…only slightly more hands on.

"Why me!? I'm not even into girls and yet this keeps happening!" Alice yelled trying to push the mermaids off her.

"Maybe it's BECAUSE you're not into chicks." Gareth said with a laugh as Alice tried to give him a glare through the mermaid horde in front of her…I was lucky I was in the back so I could see her…I should probably help her. Grabbing Alice's arm I pulled her behind me as she gripped my arm; I'm guessing she was ready to use me as a human shield should they swarm again.

"Get back! I've got Soren and I'm not afraid to swing him!" Make that a human weapon.

With our group back on their feet we got some information from the mermaids; apparently when the water started to become corrosive they drained the water from the sunken shrine and sent up the submarine with one of their mermaids who would wait for the Warriors of Light.

"You mean-" Before Gareth could say it I covered his mouth.

"Don't, just…don't." He chuckled at my annoyance at went quiet obviously proud he had found something annoying to me. Since then they have avoided the ocean water and it showed with how dry their skin had become, it was like sandpaper with how dry and rough it was; no wonder they freaked over Alice's baby soft hospital skin…weird how she was pink skinned and strong yet had soft hands…maybe it was a mix of her first seventeen years and previous two adventures clashing perfectly…what was I listening to? The mermaids eventually led us on the right path through the sunken shrine and handed us a strange item called a Rosetta stone...did Rosetta Stone steal their name from Final Fantasy? As they led us through the shrine we protected them from the various monsters that threw themselves at us in an effort to stop us from reaching their leader; I began to notice that the enemies we ran into on each attempt to restore a crystal seemed different in tactic. The Lich threw waves of enemies at us as if they were disposable while Marilith was confident enough in her abilities that she never sent a single enemy at us, now we were dealing with an enemy that was smart, they didn't give us the chance to become stronger by throwing endless waves at us but wasn't convinced in their skills that he still had henchmen who even if they didn't win they still wasted some of our strength that was going to be needed when we faced them. Luckily it was the eight of us, something I'm guessing they weren't planning on; we were able to switch out each battle and keep our strength up and recover easily and stay in top condition, I even managed to get the hang of having my magic activate on swings thanks to Alice's help, she was a pro at that. Lily even taught Gareth how to better control his momentum to increase his hit rate; seems the boss didn't expect us to make each other stronger with his lines of enemies, it was still weird to get use to the monster blood that coated my clothes; it was like I was in Bloodborne. We eventually came to the double doors that meant that the crystal was beyond it…and the fiend of water; we all pushed against it as it slowly opened to our combined strength, it almost felt like every double door was heavier than the one before. Beyond the door stood a giant creature that sported tentacles all over its body that all moved to their own beat except for the bottom eight that swerved to the right as the entire mass turned around to face us.

"So you came. Just like he said you would; the four of you have stepped into your doom."

"You can't stop the Warriors of Light!" Kent yelled drawing his blade and pointing it at the creature, "We will take you out here Kraken!" The Kraken laughed at Kent making us all draw our weapons and Pent put up his fists.

"Your end will come warriors but I was talking to the travelers." What, he was addressing us? We took a step back in surprise as Kent and the others gave us a confused look, "I was told about you four…they told me you would come and then they would take care of you." They? Suddenly I felt something strange above me and I guess Lily felt it to because we both looked up to see two shadowy figures sitting on top of a broken pillar. As they jumped down I saw the glint of a weapon and pushed Gareth out of the way as Lily did the same for Alice; when they landed their weapons crashed into the ground shaking the foundation. Two people stood there, one boy and one girl slightly younger looking then us at about 14-15; the boy had messy black hair and wore a simple t-shirt and jeans combo with brown boots and a large cleaver in his hand while the girl had bright, almost white, blond hair that was tied into twin tails on the side of her head and wore a long sleeved sweater with a short skirt and sneakers to finish it off while in her hands she wielded a long staff tipped at the edges like a javelin…it must be an extended javelin.

"We missed Penny." The boy said turning to the girl.

"It seems they could sense us Denys. He was right when he said they were more competent than beginners." The girl replied to the boy.

"Lily, who are they?" Alice asked.

"I-I-I…don't know, they must be new recruits but he wouldn't send new guys after us."

"Correct." They said in unison shocking all of us, "He wouldn't send inexperienced people after you guys but with twins who work together you don't pass up the chance like that, especially for creatures that work together." Creatures that work together…no!

"Gemini Creatures!" I shouted and they smirked.

"So she told them." Penny said.

"Doesn't matter, she wouldn't betray us." Denys said and they turned to Lily.

"Right?" They both said and Lily gave a scared look, "Why don't you come out Sukia? The boss is waiting for you to come back." All three of us moved in front of her and brandished our weapons at them.

"Like hell we're letting you take Lily!" Gareth said ready to strike.

"She's not going anywhere." Alice said getting a spell ready.

"That's right! We're not going to let you make her doubt herself again." I said watching them ready to retaliate against their attacks. They gave a sinister laugh at us.

"We don't want Lily, we want Sukia." What did they mean by that, "Time to see if this works." Penny moved forward and as Gareth took a swing at her she slid under him and swung knocking him to the ground as Denys focused on us and took a heavy swing as we blocked his attack; unfortunately he put full force in and caught us on half guard so we flew behind Lily. As I got up Penny pulled out a small mirror and showed it to Lily; as she stared into it the reflection began to change and morph and then Penny side stepped revealing another Lily behind him; what was that mirror!? I looked down to see Lily holding her body shaking uncontrollably.

"W-W-What…j-j-just…ha-happened?" She said wide eyed with horror across her face, "Something was just…r-r-ripped out of me."

"I…think that was me." The other Lily said…wait…those eyes…that's Sukia!

"How did they pull her out of you and give her a body?" There are no mirrors I know of that can do that…it's too similar as well.

"Have you ever heard of Lilith's mirror, specifically Rosario+Vampire Lilith's Mirror and Kid Icarus's Mirror of Truth?" Lilith's Mirror and the Mirror of Truth…

"Lilith's Mirror had the ability to show a monster's true form while the Mirror of Truth was able to create a copy of the person who gazed into it…"

"That's it!" Alice said and I turned to her, "They combined the mirror shards to create one mirror that showed Lily's other true form which was Sukia and then because it was combined with the mirror of truth it created a copy that she could use as a body."

"This is…my body?" Sukia said amazed as Lily stood up stumbling around.

"That's right Sukia." Penny said moving to one side of her.

"You're back with us, back to your cause." Denys said handing her a large scythe like Lily's.

"I…of course." Sukia said getting into a ready stance.

"Sukia?" Gareth said surprised at her sudden aggressiveness.

"I told you guys before that I can't betray Owen, I will follow him to the end and I meant it!" Before she could jump in to attack Penny and Denys grabbed her by the shoulders stopping her as we helped Lily back on her feet.

"Not so fast Sukia, we need to do something." They said pulling her in; I turned my attention to Lily who seemed disoriented and reached out trying to grab something.

"What's wrong?" Alice asked.

"I…I can't see very well." Lily said, "I wore glasses and without Sukia my vision went back to normal."

"What's happening here!?" Kent asked in disbelief at what's been happening.

"Not now Kent…Sena do you have an extra pair of glasses we could use?" Alice asked and she pulled out a pair from her robes giving them to Alice who placed them on Lily's face; looking at her face I noticed that Lily's hair had shortened down…she really was the girl I met at the library.

"Oh Soren?" I turned to see Sukia giving me a sly smile and then Penny dashed forward knocking me on my back with her javelin; as I tried to get up a tail coiled around me lifting me up and pulling me towards Sukia.

"Soren!" I heard Alice yell as Sukia held me in front of her.

"Put him down!" Gareth yelled and I turned my head to see Gareth, Alice, Lily and the warriors ready to charge at them.

"We don't think so." Penny said as Denys pulled out a strange hourglass…wait…I recognize that hourglass!

"Bravely Second!" Suddenly the world turned black and white as everyone became still leaving the Gemini creatures, Sukia and me still moving. The hourglass from Bravely Default; it could stop enemies in their tracks and break the damage capacity wide open…but why wasn't I paused?

"Time to see if what the boss said is true." Penny said as Sukia faced me towards her and she held up the mirror to my face; I gazed into it and as the version of me twisted and changed into…Jarek…no, no, NONONONONONONONONONONONO! In that instant I felt something inside me rip me apart in an instant as intense pain jolted across my body; when I was let go I dropped to the ground in a crumbled heap as my body refused to move.

"So…this is what he meant…finally." That voice…it can't be, "This is the first time I've gotten to look at you like this…I'd appreciate it if you did the same." I struggled as I stood up shakily looking at the copy of me that stood across the way with a wicked smile…no…there stood Jarek.


	17. Chapter 17

"To think you could even give me such an angry look, it's quiet refreshing." Jarek said teasing me as I gave him a grimace that even I thought I could never make; this was another version of me that has hurt my friends three different times in less than three months. He had manipulated my anger and weak will to attack my friends and I couldn't let him out…whether it was my body or his own! I rushed forward at him and took a swing down with my left blade as he sidestepped out of the way of the blow and swung punching me in the face knocking me backwards and making me drop my right blade, "A little angrier than normal aren't we?" He picked up my dropped blade and twisted it examining each side with a wicked smile on his face; he was just playing with me and treating me like a child, "But if you want a fight that's exactly what I'll give you!" He took a swing at me and I rolled backwards as his blade clanged into the stone; I looked behind me to see everyone was still frozen in time and the world was still in black and white.

"What are you? I thought you were just another personality." I said swinging forward making him back up.

"So did I and maybe I still am, after all I'm just in a copy of your body…but it's just my mind, no one else to fight with. So now it's my time to shine!" He jumped at me swinging and I gave a block stopping his blade and he suddenly repositioned pulling his blade back and thrusting towards my chest; moving my arm up he stabbed at my arm hitting my cloak and steel as the feeling vibrated down my arm; good thing Alice and Gareth made me get those arm guards.

"But what are you? I came to terms with realizing I can't always look strong for others, I have to trust my friends to help me in my time. So why are you still in my mind?" I swung forward as he dodged and I took a few more swipes as he maneuvered around; I gave a weak thrust and he dodged to the side as I swung in his direction catching his blade in a quick block that left him staggering.

"You think I came from that? Out of all of your friends your story has to be the tamest one out…but that's because you don't know the truth." He took a few quick swings as I stood my ground and with a swing that knocked my sword down he kicked me backwards.

"What are you talking about? I've known everything about my life and if you were from a traumatic…moment…"

"Realize it now? You wouldn't remember. You blocked it out when it happened. Any memory of it is lost to you…only I know."

"That won't stop me!" I rushed forward making powerful swings knocking him backwards with each hit; I noticed we ended up in the middle of Denys, Penny and Sukia who were unaffected by the hourglass as they activated it.

"You can attack all you want but this fight will end in a stalemate as long as we fight each other, we're the same person and this won't end well…for you." What, "I have three others with me and you are on your own." He took a swing and stopped my onslaught of attacks with us starring each other down as we tried to push each other's blade, I looked around to see the other three closing around us slowly; dammit he was right, if I could only get my friend back up then this fight could go better but…! I pushed his blade with all my strength and thought of the spell I wanted and watched as they came closer…and closer…and closer…now! Pushing Jarek's blade back I swung at Denys as he back stepped and turned grabbing the blade from Jarek in his staggering moment and with my improved accuracy swung catching Denys's bag and grabbing the hourglass as it fell out and rolling away from them. I smashed the hourglass to the ground as sand and glass flew around hoping it would stop the time stop and was glad when everything began to return to normal; the color returned and everyone around me began to move again with a look of confusion on their faces and then a look of surprise then anger from Alice.

"Why are there two Sorens?" Lily asked and Gareth gave a look of confusion as Alice pulled up her katana and enchanting it with an electrical quality.

"That's not Soren…that's Jarek!" She said glaring at him as she rushed up by my side and gave my blades an electric enchantment like hers, "How did he get out?"

"The mirror."

"Of course."

"I'm flattered you remember me Alice, it touches my heart." Jarek said with a sly smile.

"Shut it!" Alice yelled, "You're outnumbered now and we're not going to let you walk away!" He began to laugh slowly and then gave a strange uproarious laugh.

"You think I didn't know he would do that? I wanted him to do it! I want all of you to be here when I tell you the truth…I will shatter you all in one blow!" We backed up in surprise at his declaration and suddenly heard a loud stomp and turned to see the Kraken with an angry look on his face.

"This wasn't part of the deal! You will not freeze the fiend of water without facing the consequences!" He shot his tentacles at the four of them and Sukia suddenly disappeared and cut apart each tentacle as the Geminis fell down and grabbed Denys cleaver using their combined strength to cleave his head from his body.

"Sorry but we don't need you if you try anything like that." They said in unison as the creature disappeared; they cut it down like it was nothing, how strong were they?

"Pay attention Soren, you're going to want to hear this." Jarek said snapping his fingers to get my attention, "I've got a very interesting story to tell now that I'm free."

"Why now that you're free? Seems like you have some ulterior motive." Alice said in a harsh tone.

"Too clever girl, I want to watch as everything that Soren is crumbles and see the despair and sorrow wash over him and knowing his friends they will crumble right along with him, like a house of cards you will crash."

"Then I won't let you tell your stupid story!" Gareth shouted rushing at him and swinging his axe down on Jarek who grabbed the hilt before it hit him and pushed it to the side as it crashed into the floor next to him.

"I will admit that you are powerful but I'd rather not be interrupted!" With that he kicked Gareth in the face knocking back at us as Alice and I caught him and Lily caught his axe as Jarek threw it at us, "Now where should I start…"

"Nowhere!" Kent rushed in for a stab but he sidestepped and grabbed his arm spinning him around and back at us.

"I said I don't like being INTERRUPTED!" We all shook at his voice; it was filled with rage and authority, he turned his head to Sukia who nodded back and held up her scythe.

"Hold!" I felt my body suddenly go numb and I collapsed to the ground, I heard seven others fall and realized everyone else had gone down; she had enough magic power to make a single target spell affect a group!

"Time for a story…well a story add on would be more accurate, our young Soren here had a sister and a father that he hated more than anyone…and yet he loved them because they were family; but it became harder for him to love them because of how they brought down his life. But he took in on with what little and pathetic confidence he could. It worked for a while…until one day his sister came in, she had just broken out of prison and was looking for revenge."

"What do you mean!? My sister never went to jail!"

"Ah but there's where your memory gap begins Soren. One year ago to the day she was arrested for slipping up again and she left with a look in her eyes that you feared; but she was gone and you all moved on with your life. Then one day during a prison riot she escaped and worry filled your soul for her but also for yourself…and you were right to fear for your life because only two days later she burst into the house with that same look in her eyes when she was taken away…and a pistol in her hand."

"Wh…what?..." …

"In that moment you felt despair wash across your body and when you looked at your mother and saw a tear fall down her face it became clear. You convinced yourself that you had to be strong for your mother and as that tear fell down her face you did what had to be done."

"What…do you mean…what had to be done?" He gave a smile that made my bones chill under my skin; I don't like where this is going.

"You fought your sister and wrestled the gun from her hand and as you held it she still had this look of rage, she ranted and raved about how unfair the world is and how she got the short end of the stick…but you weren't listening, it all came out a intelligible noise and she never expected for what you would do." …No.

"No…no…"

"…You shot her." !, "You fired five rounds into her in such rapid succession that the stunned look was still on her face when you were done; in that moment you didn't feel any regret or sorrow at her death, you felt strong, you felt like you had given her what she deserved…you were happy she was dead." …

"…"

"Too stunned to talk? Well that's not the end, you weren't done…or maybe I should say we weren't done, in that moment of bliss at her death I was born…but not as a traumatic piece but as you…and we weren't finished. Your father came up hearing the gunshots echo and we looked to him and took that final bullet and shot him directly in the forehead. He fell to the ground with a thud and all that was left was us and your mother who looked at us in horror; her little boy had exploded and from the explosion two corpses had been found. The cops wrote it off as she shot the father and then was killed by us in self-defense…we had gotten away with murder and it felt great…but mother had decided that therapy would be our next step. For a few weeks we spent hours in that office until one day he had taken the extreme measures…have you ever heard of electroshock therapy?"

"…"

"Well with that they were able to get rid of the violent impulses we felt by snipping me out of your mind…but to you it never seemed like you shot them or that it never happened before. As far as you were concerned your sister and dad were alive and being the same useless people they had always been…but for me I remembered it all and I still existed as a catalyst for those memories. I lied dormant for months; I was just the base feeling of anger and vengeance…until I awoke for the first time. In that moment I came out swinging and wanted to attack anything to sate these feelings of anger…even lash out at a friend."

"!"

"Oh, a reaction; that's right Soren, the onslaught against Alice is when I first awoke and even after pushing my weakened form back to the recesses of your mind I began to think and grow…to become a much more coherent being than just rage and vengeance. I want more than that now…if I would have had my way in the beginning I would have been fine with just becoming powerful…but you stopped me. Not only then but therapy and electroconvulsive therapy were both your ideas, no matter what I said you led us to this moment, all I wanted was to exist and you and your mother and your friends have been putting a stop to that for months! Now I can finally exist and the first thing I want to do is take you out!"

"…"

"Nothing to say? Fine, die in silence!" CLANG!

"Back off!"

"Out of everyone who has stood in my way you have been one of the largest thorns in my side girl! You would still stand up for him after everything you've heard? Even those two are stunned by the news!"

"Sure it's unsettling to learn that Soren has hurt people and I can't imagine him doing that…but that doesn't mean I'm going to turn against him! I'll protect him because he's my friend and most trusted partner!"

 **Alice**

I stood against Jarek with an angry look on his face as he held one of Soren's blades against me; I wasn't going to let him kill Soren, I won't lose him to Jarek! Soren was currently unfit to fight with his spirit and mind shattered from the news of his concealed past, the warriors were still stunned by the spell and Gareth and Lily looked too stunned to move; something about the news made then reluctant to fight which meant it was just me right now!

"Fine, I'll take you out and watch Soren be destroyed from the inside as he was too weak to save you."

"Like hell! I won't lose to you here!" I dashed forward with a horizontal slash as he blocked and I swerved my blade going for an upward slash that he narrowly blocked and altered between them until I was able to knock his blade away and take a slash at his chest causing it to bleed; it wasn't a deep cut though so he quickly recovered and started attacking swinging at me and thrusting as I maneuvered around nicking his arm with a counter attack. In the moment of that attack he brought his elbow up hitting my nose and slicing my cheek as I narrowly dodged but he then pulled back and thrusted the blade into my leg making me fall to the ground in pain as he pulled the blade out; damn it, I was sloppy!

"Finally, I've had you in my clutches three times already and now I can get rid of you once and forever!" He raised his blade and swung it down as I swung up knocking his momentum loose and rolling behind him and slicing along his back with a deep cut making him fall to the ground, "No…I can't lose…here!"

"You won't Jarek." I turned behind me to see the Geminis looking over me and as I tried to stand I felt the wound in my leg flare up and I dropped to the floor unable to move; they and Sukia moved past me and picked up Jarek, Denys pulled out a stone and spoke quietly into it and a portal appeared out of nowhere, they all stepped beyond it and the portal closed leaving us to deal with the problems they had left behind. I turned to the group to see they had begun to move as the numbing feeling wore off; Gareth and Lily had conflicting expressions on their faces while Soren…he looked broken…like everything he knew had completely disappeared and everything had turned to dust…he was in a desolate world with no hope in his eyes…his eye's had glazed over…his soul had dulled.

There was no conversation after we had restored the water crystal, we walked silently back to the airship while I led Soren who seemed reluctant to even breath as he gripped my hand; it was like if he let go then he might get lost on his own. As I sat in the airship room with Soren he sat in a chair staring down at his lap; he had slow breathing and didn't blink at all, he shook occasionally but stayed still most of the time.

"…Soren?" No response, "Look, I know you're hurting right now but…look how much you've done since then…I mean…you saved me and Gareth and Lily and brought us all together." As I stumbled over my words trying to cheer him up the door opened to reveal Gareth and Lily entering the room with serious looks on their faces, "Gareth and Lily will say the same thing! Go on guys; tell him that it doesn't matter, that he's still a good person!" They gave each other a frown and looked back at me.

"Alice…we can't do that." Gareth said.

"What!? Why?"

"Alice, I never had a family but I always wanted one and the fact that he would kill two of his own flesh and blood isn't something I can just look past."

"A-And I can't just think that killing an s-sibling is no big deal…especially since I lost my brother."

"I'm not saying to not think about it! I'm just saying with everything he's done he's shouldn't feel this guilty!"

"Shouldn't he?"

"Gareth!"

"I can't just think that, especially since he killed his sister, why did you do that Soren?"

"…"

"Damn it Gareth he fell just like the rest of us! You want to judge him for that!?"

"I-It's not just that Alice…he killed a family member, when we lost control of ourselves we didn't kill anyone."

"Really Lily? You're going to say that even after you attempted to kill us before!?"

"Alice don't accuse Lily of that, she was being controlled by Sukia."

"And Soren was being controlled by Jarek when he killed them! You want to take back what you said now!?"

"It's different Alice, he was the first one to pull the trigger and then it was him and Jarek in tandem, he knew what he was doing."

"NO HE DIDN'T!" As I yelled they took a step back in surprise, "…I refuse to believe that Soren would ever do that…Soren isn't like that, he's impulsive and sometimes makes stupid decisions in the heat of his emotions…but he's not a cruel killer…Jarek is a killer…but Soren isn't. He's trustworthy and caring, he puts himself in harm's way for those he cares about and even those he doesn't know...I refuse to believe that he did any of that and I don't care what anyone says."

"…Alice." I turned in surprise hearing Soren's voice, "Thanks for defending me…but I pulled that trigger…it's my fault." No.

"But you decided to go to therapy and you took electroshock therapy to seal him away. You made up for it."

"Alice…I killed my sister and father, I may have resented them but I never wanted to kill them…something inside me…snapped and it was just gunshots and sounds of pain coming to an abrupt silence; the silence of death. My nightmare makes so much sense now…I killed her and even if I erased it from my memory my dreams kept showing me the truth…I'm a murderer." He began to shiver and I felt anger overtake me; grabbing Lily's journal I clocked him on the head with it shocking Gareth and Lily.

 **Soren**

As I lamented in my truth I felt something hard clock me on the head suddenly and looked up in surprise as Alice gave me an angry look; it was her usual angry looking but something about it felt more serious.

"Idiot! You're not a murderer and I know it, I've been to three worlds with you and I know you aren't a murderer. When I was lost in my own rage you protected me form a blast of fire that would have killed me; when we met Gareth you told me not to kill him because you felt he was trustworthy and you stopped me from killing Lily even when she had attacked us multiple time, just because you saw a difference in her eyes. If anyone is a killer it's me…and you've stopped me every time from ending a life, would you call me a murderer Soren?" How could she say that!?

"Of course not! I know you Alice, you don't attack without good reason and you wouldn't kill indiscriminately."

"And I know you Soren…you aren't a mindless murderer and you wouldn't kill even over a grudge. Do you trust me to tell the truth Soren?"…Alice…

"I do Alice...I trust you completely." I replied and she smiled.

"Then give a grin…for me?" I gave her a smile and she laughed.

"Thanks…what about you two…do you think Soren is a murderer?" I looked over at Gareth and Lily who had shameful looks on their face.

"No." Gareth said looking down, "Soren protected me more than once and never dealt a finishing blow to me in any practice bout…even against Damien. I'm sorry I doubted you Soren…I feel ashamed."

"Me too." Lily said shamefully, "You protected me from the collapsing ruins and stopped Alice from attacking and even came up to me despite the fact I was your enemy to see if I was okay…you wouldn't murder any of your family."

"It's okay guys…I doubted myself too. It happens…but we can't give up, if we do then they can destroy this world…I don't want to see us fail…or watch our counterparts die."

"R-Right!" Lily said confidently.

"We can't let them win! We're helping the heroes right? We would be pretty lousy if we let them die!" Gareth said with a confident smile.

"We can't let them drive us apart or break us down. We've come too far to give up now." Alice said giving us perspective; she was right though, if we falter then we give up on ourselves then this world is done for.

"Come on guys, we can do this! We have to stay strong!" They all gave a nod and we headed for the cockpit but as we left the room we ran into the Warriors of Light waiting at the door and then Kent spoke up as we stood there surprised at their appearance.

"I think it's time you explain everything to us."


	18. Chapter 18

"So let me get this straight…" Kent started as we all sat on the deck of the airship, "You four are from a different world and came to stop those guys and the cloaked guy from stopping us from saving this world?"

"Yes." Alice said nodding.

"Not only that." Pent began, "You've been to two worlds before this and stopped them in those worlds?"

"Well…one for me." Gareth specified.

"But that's not all." Sena said, "Lily was an enemy before coming to this world and held the soul of a succubus until it was ripped out in this world?"

"Y-Yeah…" Lily said looking away embarrassed.

"And you four are doppelgangers from an alternate world where magic and monsters don't exist." Hana said.

"That's about it." I said closing it up.

"Felt like we spent time on exposition." Alice said with a sigh.

"Why didn't you tell us earlier?" Kent asked.

"We…we didn't want to seem skeptical, telling people your from another world doesn't exactly make them say it's possible." I explained and Sena gave a nod pushing up her glasses.

"Statistically speaking the likelihood of someone coming from another world is two million seven hundred and ninety four thousand eight hundred and fifty three to one and there are four people from another meaning you have to multiply by four making it-"

"I think we get it." Gareth said stopping her, "It's a big number."

"Statistics only measure the possibility of something to happen but not when it will happen." Pent said giving another proverb, "How did you come to this world though?"

"Well Lily had her boss bring her here but…we were brought by some sort of entity, we don't know who she is but by the end of this we'll have a chance to find out." I explained.

"So you fight for the truth?" Kent asked.

"No, we fight because we don't want others to suffer more than we have…and maybe we can't stop the small problems but we won't let world destruction be a part of it!" Gareth gave a hearty laugh as Alice rolled her eyes with a smile and Lily giggled, "Something funny guys?"

"No. Just funny how predictable you can be." Alice said and I felt Gareth slap me on the back still laughing, "That's good though, it lets us know that you're okay."

"That's your tell man." Gareth said, "We can read you like a book. Unlike me."

"Really mister toothy grin?" I said and he went silent; whenever he was feeling especially happy he would get this big grin on his face that he couldn't control, it made card games against him a piece of cake because he couldn't bluff.

"Yeah you stink at poker because of that." Alice said chuckling.

"I don't think you have room to talk miss red face." Gareth said with a chuckle; Alice's tell was that anytime she would tell a lie her face would turn slightly redder, whenever we played Town of Salem together and she was mafia of serial killer her face would turn redder every time she had to lie to the rest of the group.

"That was one time."

"Not one time." I said and she hit me on the head.

"Can we move on?" Alice said in a huff; guess it was time to keep going.

With everything resolved we loaded up the ship with nearby water for the shower and headed for Melmond; with the Rosetta Stone Sena had us going to Melmond to give it to a scripter; she found out about him before leaving to fight Garland and heard he had hints on figuring out the language of Lufenias who had a secret to get to the wind temple in the sky. Stepping off the ship we entered the town and were amazed to see the land turning green and vibrant and in the center was the traveling band from the elf kingdom.

"Thank you for joining us today in the revival of the earth of Melmond, we've come here to perform the song of the earth to bring this town back from the brink." Danny said with an invigorated attitude as Jessie began to dance and Jon shook his tambourine, Danny pulled out his guitar beginning to play as everyone in the town began to dance with renewed energy. We walked up to the band as they played and they gave a nod at us as they continued to play, "It's good to see you again my young friends, it has been too long since we've seen each other, how has your quest faired?"

"We've been doing well; three of the four crystals have been restored so far." I answered and he gave a big smile.

"Then I'm glad to hear this world will soon be restored after two thousand years."

"Two thousand years!?" Gareth yelled in shock and Jon nodded as he shook the tambourine.

"This land first lost the wind crystal when the Lufenians' flying fortress was taken over by Tiamat; he blackened the wind crystal halting the winds of the land as Kraken headed to the bottom of the sea and darkened the water crystal turning the oceans rank and foul, we were no longer able to travel the ocean. As they ravaged the elements of air and water the Lich and Marilith ravaged our earth and volcanoes turning the earth brown and volcanoes dormant."

"Wouldn't the volcanoes being dormant be a good thing?" Alice asked and Jon shook his head.

"In this world the volcanoes affect the climate of the world and keep us from freezing over."

"A few more years and we would have had a whole new ice age on our hands." Jessie said as she twirled around to the music, "Thanks for that guys. Can't dance in freezing cold…wouldn't stop me from trying though. Hehehe."

"So you have the wind crystal left?"

"Yep, once we return that one to normal then the world will be set right." Kent said confidently and the other warriors as well as we gave a nod.

"…Are you sure about that?" Danny said and I felt a sense of seriousness emanate from him, "For two thousand years the land and its people suffered; thousands have died and the land has been decimated by the monsters that now roam as well as the people who have turned to crime in order to survive."

"What are you trying to say?" Pent asked picking up on his sudden serious tone as well.

"The present can only go so far when the mistakes of our past continue to affect our present."

"But w-we're working to stop the effects." Sena said getting slightly defensive.

"Try as you will it may already be too late." There was dead silence among the group as the people danced; it felt like we were stuck in time as everyone continued to dance and the music played…despite the fact that Danny and Jon stopped playing their instruments and Jessie stopped dancing…who were they really? Something about them made me feel like these three were more than just a traveling band; after all they did give us the dust needed to reveal Astos in his true form, where did they something like that?

"But for now let us just enjoy the earth revival festival." Suddenly the hostility and seriousness in the air dissipated and when I blinked they were back to playing their instruments and dancing as if the whole situation didn't even happen.

"L-Let's keep moving…I d-don't like the feeling I'm g-getting." Lily said slightly more worried than she normally was; she could feel it to, something was definitely more than meets the eye with those three.

"The scripter should be up here." Sena said leading us to a small graveyard in the back of town, sitting amongst the graves was a young man who seemed absorbed in his work as he scribbled on every piece of paper that was around him.

"No no no no no! That's not the right dialect either…what could they possibly use!?" He scratched his head in frustration as he scratched out lines of scribbles and chicken scratch from various papers, "Maybe it's harmonic? Scrambled text? Ancient tounge?"

"Excuse me sir." Sena said tapping him on the shoulder; when he turned his head to us he gave us all a shock; he looked ragged and tired, his eyes were wide and bloodshot while his face was covered by a long beard and hair that made him look like a wild animal.

"Gah! Is he feral?" Hana said slightly afraid of his looks, "Does he have rabies?"

"Hana. Is something wrong sir?" Kent asked and he grumbled returning to his work ignoring our intrusion.

"Hey we're trying to help you!" Alice said pissed at his sudden brush off of us.

"I'm very busy if you don't mind! Besides unless you can help me in ancient Lufenia language I would like to get back to my work!" He replied getting in her face, Alice's face scrunched up as she backed up from him.

"Oh, you seriously need to do something about that body odor." Alice said waving away the stink in front of her face.

"We wanted to give you this." Kent said stepping forward and holding out the Rosetta Stone; the mans' eyes lit up as he looked at it and a smile came to his face as he grabbed the stone from Kent's hands.

"This is the language breaker! The key item to break any language code! It's the find of the century!" As he raved he sat back down returning to his chicken scratch and talking to himself in language after language with some crossing other…oh it's making my head spin just listening to him.

"Anyone have any idea what he's speaking?" Hana asked.

"Elivish, Dwarven, a little spell tongue and pieces of something even I don't know." Sena said as we waited for him to finish his work; he had this fire in his eyes as he continued to write with no signs of slowing down.

"…Tiamat." Huh? Kent had a pensive look on his face as we waited and I looked to see the other warriors all had varying faces of worry or sadness; was there something about Tiamat that had them frazzled?

"I've done it!" The man shouted bringing all of our focus on him as he held up the stone and a handful of paper, "I have deciphered the Lufenia language down to its most basic level! It's just a simple matter of-"

"H-Hang on!" Lily said stopping him as she pulled out her journal, "Okay ready!"

"You're really going to write down his explanation of how to speak Lufenia?" Hana asked amazed at her dedication.

"Yep, we're going to need to study up on the language if we're going there." Lily explained.

"I think you're forgetting about the human elephant over here." Kent said patting Sena on the head.

"I-I still think it's good to get notes down on it, y-you never know how handy they could be."

"May I start?" The man asked and Lily returned her gaze to him.

"Please do." Lily replied with baited breath at his next words, she was definitely and info geek.

With only two of us able to understand the language we decided to leave the town of Lufenia to Sena who had a better understanding of it than any of us; as we waited for her to return Alice, Gareth, Lily and I decided to get some training done as a group. A quick three hit combo, block, switch with Gareth; he makes a heavy hit that takes it out and Alice moves in to take out the one closing in on his left while Lily kept the rear clear and applied healing when needed.

"Gah!" I heard Gareth give a grunt and turned to see he caught a hit from the right, moving in I lopped off the monsters head and pushed the torso away so it wouldn't clutter our fighting space, the last thing we want is to trip over an already defeated enemy.

"Watch all your sides Gareth!" Alice yelled as she sent out an ice wave, "You may have the best defense but that doesn't make you invincible!"

"Right!" Gareth replied as he scanned around him for incoming monsters; I heard a slight rustling and turned around to see a wolf pouncing at me; muttering a small accuracy boost spell I thrusted into the falling wolf plunging directly into its mouth as a spray of monster blood covered my hilt, hand, glove and coat arm. Swinging the creature off my blade it fell limp back into the bushes it jumped out of; Alice coated her blade in a gravity enchantment and took a long swing hitting a group of monsters and sending them crashing to the ground. Sending a haste spell Alice's way she dashed forward and hacked away the immobile creatures; when she finished a spray of blood came out of all of them at once as she gave a huff. Lily stood her ground as a group of imps moved in to attack and as they came within range she gave a long horizontal reaping slice removing their heads from their bodies; moving her scythe backwards she vaulted backwards moving back into formation with us. As we all took a breather I heard a loud thump of a footstep and turned my head to Gareth's view to see a giant moving out of the forest towards us. Gareth rushed forward taking a swing making the giant stagger as he used the momentum to take another swing, and another and another and another until he was a flurry of heavy blows; it was his signature whirlwind maneuver! Suddenly the giant took a large swing knocking Gareth back but suddenly Gareth got back on his feet and rushed in moving at the same speed as the whirlwind but wasn't a flurry, he knew every strike he was making. With one motion he swung up with enough strength to lift himself into the air and he used that to swing down cleaving the giant in two.

"Whoa." I said without thinking amazed at his sudden ability.

"So that's what it is!" Lily said confusing all of us, "I k-knew there had t-to be more to Gareth's upgrade then just attack and d-defense. During combat the more he hits the faster he gets, the effect lasts until the end of the battle but he has a huge boost in speed if the enemy c-can take a lot of hits."

"Wow, that's actually impressive." Alice said in genuine appreciation at his new found skill.

"If we pair that up with a haste spell then he could turn into a flurry of powerful hits." I said out loud thinking up new strategies.

"Only if he can control those hits." Lily said making us turn our attention to her, "W-W-What I mean is th-that Gareth has powerful attack and defense and now speed b-but no control, he swings it around w-wildly when he gets fast enough meaning he has no accuracy." I thought back to when he was hacking the giant he used his momentum meaning he let the swings go where they would without thinking about it; she was right, he could get fast but he loses accuracy in the process. Alice, Lily and I are balanced with magic to help us while Gareth must have a trade of system…like Shulk from Xenoblade.

"What if it's a tradeoff system? If he focuses then maybe he can boost his accuracy in sacrifice of his speed and trade his defense for attack." I suggested and Gareth's face lit up.

"So I do have magic! Seems strange though."

"Not magic, body channeling." We all turned to see Pent approaching us.

"Body Channeling?"

"It's a skill that those who can't use magic can utilize to become a powerful force. Body channeling lets you become a force on the battle field if you use it correctly."

"So what can I do with it?"

"With concentration you can change the quality of your body; as much as I would love to run a practice match Sena will be back soon so I'll keep it to the points. Physical strength for magic strength, magic attack for physical strength, physical defense for magic defense, magic defense for physical defense, speed for accuracy, and accuracy for speed."

"Why would I need magic attack?"

"What if I use my enchanting on your axe?" Alice chimed in, "Then you would need magical attack."

"Those who do not use all at their disposal will forever be at the worst disadvantage." Pent said in his usual proverb advice.

"Why do you always try to say something profound?" Lily asked Pent.

"Well as a monk I was taught to not only stay balanced in body and mind but also pass on my knowledge to those in need of it. So far my counterpart seems in need of it most."

"Hey I'm not that stupid!" Gareth yelled feeling insulted.

"Gareth…come on." Alice said implying what we all knew and Gareth sighed.

"Y-You're still th-the strongest of us?" Lily said trying to cheer him up and he gave a small chuckle.

"Yeah, I guess…thanks."

"What's happening here?" I turned to see Kent and Hana standing near us with a smirk on Kent's face and Hana giggling.

"Just figuring some new things out." Alice replied sheathing her Katana.

"Well after this our quest will be over, I suppose there won't many opportunities to learn new things when there's no need to." Kent said leaning against the nearby tree.

"…Hey I have a question." Hana said, "If you guys are from another world does that mean after all of this is over that you'll head back to your world?"

"Well…so far that's how it's been; we've helped save the world and then we got transported back to our world…as if it never happened."

"So we'll…go home…" Lily said looking down and shaking…that's right, she was transported before her dad attacked her…she wasn't going back to an ideal situation.

"You can't stay here?" Hana asked sounding sad, "It's kind of sad to think we'll never see you again after this is over."

"We all have places where we belong Hana, but that doesn't mean we will never see them again." Pent said trying to cheer her up.

"I guess…but I'll still feel sad when they're gone." Suddenly Hana jumped forward wrapping her hands around my waist and knocking me over with her, "I don't want them to go!"

"Hana!? Please stop squirming so much it feels…weird."

"Get off him you hussy!"

"A little jealous Alice?"

"Shut it Gareth! Lily help me pry her off."

"O-Okay." As they pulled she held on tighter and I could feel her chest-! Down libido down!

"Getting a little excited Soren?" Hana teased making me turn red.

"Damnit Soren stop thinking with your second head!"

"I'm trying but blood travels its own way."

"Keep thinking that way and your blood won't move at all when I'm done!" Nearby I could hear Kent, Pent and Gareth all laughing heartily at what was happening and even Lily was giggling at me, great friends I have right now…eh, they're still awesome, "And what are you laughing at Soren!" Oh crap.

Sena eventually came back and we all entered the airship; when we came over the desert we scoured the area looking for a clear area to land, finding a small patch of green we landed and headed into the sandstorm ravaged dessert. It felt like the wind and sand was trying to whip us around and stop us from reaching the center; as we approached the center a tall tower came into my vision, was that the mirage tower? Approaching the tower it began to fade and as we came up to it the tower was completely gone; Sena pulled out a small bell and rung it three times, on the third ring a giant whirlwind whipped up directly in front of us blinding me. When it disappeared the tower was standing tall in front of us; the tower was made of sand but it didn't fade when I touched it even though the sand looked dry and unpacked.

"Let's head in, we're almost there." Kent said confidently as we all followed into the tower; the inside was lined with stone and granite completely making the outside a façade, looking outside would make you think it was like a child's sand castle with a sand interior…but true to its name the outside was just a mirage while the inside held the truth. As we traveled up monsters attacked us in organized large groups and played working together instead of just attacking us all at once; whoever was in charge of these monsters was on an entirely different level than any of the other fiends. Luckily we were strong enough to take on any challenge that was thrown at us; as a group we couldn't be taken down and they weren't expecting eight people. Eventually we made it to the third floor and found ourselves in the center room, within the center of that room I see a glowing bad with a steel robot creature standing next to it…something wasn't right though…it felt too easy.

"Watch out! I felt someone suddenly push me and as I fell to the floor I looked behind me to see Pent had taken the blow from a blue dragon, "Gah!"

"Pent!" Kent yelled and Pent turned around punching the dragon directly in the faceand climbing on top of it; we moved in to help him but suddenly the dragon rose to the ceiling and shook Pent off making him fall and as we moved to catch him the dragon suddenly whipped its tail around and pierced Pent's heart…! We all stood there frozen as the look of pain and shock washed over his face and his blood dripped to the floor.

"PENT!" Sena screamed loudly and then Pent threw something at us which Kent caught and Pent grabbed at the tail piercing him and pulled himself punching the dragon over and over again as it bit into him in response

"Go!" He yelled at us and I felt Kent grab me as we all moved onto the pad, he held up the cube and a light enveloped us; the last thing I saw was Pent and the dragon crashing to the ground both…dead.

"No! We have to go back for him! I can save him!" Sena said as Kent and Hana held her back from the portal; the rest of us were currently too much in shock to even move, Pent was dead from saving us from the blue dragon that was hidden in the room. He took the hit so we could keep moving…but in that moment we lost a friend…damn it! I hit the ground with my fist in anger and Alice gave me a sad look and nod; we have to keep moving. Once Sena was calmed down we headed out to examine the sky fortress; there were enemies on the ship as well but we were able to take them; the only problem was that now that Pent was-…it was harder to fight without him in our group. The tension was much more apparent with the loss of Pent and even with Gareth trying to cheer us up you could feel something was just…off. On the second floor I was able to find adamantite; the black smith needed this to craft the ultimate weapon, guess I could finally make his dream come true. The third floor had an orb in the center of them room; inside was a view of the entire world, it showed a wide map of the area more accurate than any map we could create. The weirdest part was the four points on the map that seemed to all converge on one point and glow brightly at that point they met; Lily quickly pulled out her map and started drawing most likely getting the point they met at. As we came to the fifth floor I looked around only to see it was a long hallway leading to a room at the end of the hall; the fiend must be beyond that doorway at the end. We walked in silence to the end of the hall and as we reached the end I heard the whirling of gears and the sound of something walking towards us; I stopped everyone and turned around to see a strange metal thing walking towards us. Suddenly it shot at me and in response I pulled my blade out blocking his bullet as it fell to the ground; whatever it was, it wasn't friendly. I dashed forward and swung at the machine but my blade just clanged against the machine bouncing off it; my physical attacks weren't going to do anything to it. Alice moved forward and slashed waves of magic at him hitting him with fire ice and lighting; it shook it off as though nothing happened surprising Alice as well as the rest of us.

"Nothing's working against him!" Gareth said getting worried as was the rest of us; how could we take this thing out?

"I…I know what to do!" Hana said stepping in front of me with a serious face that I didn't like; what was she planning!?

"Hana?" I said worried and she turned around smiling.

"I guess I don't get to see you guys leave after all."

"Hana don't, we'll figure something out!" Kent said with a voice of panic as Hana tossed him something.

"Kent…even I know that the more time we waste the more we'll all get hurt…I…I don't want to just stand by as that happens…I will protect you guys…so please…trust me." I heard Kent begin to sniffle and he once again pulled me back as I watched Hana raise her arms as a ball of white burning light formed in her hands, "Flare!" As the door closed behind me as I could hear was a loud explosion and feel the rumbling under my butt; when it stopped there was another moment of silence, I touched the door but it didn't open; I'm guessing it wasn't going to open ever again…and Hana wasn't going to move again.

"So you made it. Here I thought you would be dead by now." We turned to the direction of the voice to see a multi-headed dragon looming over us; this was Tiamat, the fiend of wind and our final enemy.

"It's sad to see that Hana and Pent couldn't make it here, they were always the ones with the most moral."

"SHUT UP!" Kent yelled fuming; there was an anger in his eyes that was filled with loss and pain, "How dare you talk about them like they were your friends!"

"But Kent they were my friends…as were you." What was Tiamat talking about…wait…he was Ventus!?

"…You used us…and betrayed us…and now…you've killed two of my best friends, I'll be damned if you hurt anyone else!"

"That's right!" Sena said stepping forward, "We came this far and we can mourn when it's over…but for now we will fight and save everyone else!" They stood against Tiamat ready to fight and the rest of us joined them and stood ready.

"You really want to try this again…you couldn't beat me the first time and it won't change this time!" He shot a blast of concentrated air at us knocking us all apart; Gareth dug his axe into the ground and grabbed my hand as I soared by him, when the air blast finished I stood back up and watched as Kent dashed in jumping on Tiamat and slicing off one of the heads and jumping down regrouping with us.

"NullAll!" Sena shouted as a protective barrier surrounded each of us; this should help us keep defended, "We can do this!" I looked back at Tiamat to see the neck flail without its head and then suddenly explode into a new head.

"This might be a bit tougher than we thought it would be." Kent said swiping the blood off his blade, "We're just going to have to hit it with all we've got!"

"Haste!" I cried as everyone's weapons started to glow with the speed spell cast on them; Gareth and Kent sped forward at the fiend began to cast various wind spells at them; as they pushed through the spells being cast at them Lily and Sena cast healing spells after each hit to keep them strong. When they came up to the creature it slammed its tail down as they both dodged and climbed onto the tail; as the heads flailed trying to grab Gareth and Kent Alice, Lily and I rushed in moving up the body and positioned ourselves each near a head as Kent and Gareth did the same. With a nod from Kent we all swung with all our strength cleaving off all five heads at once; we jumped off and the body fell to the ground limp.

"That's it?" Alice said surprised, "It feels sort of anticlimactic." She was right; even with how strong we were now it still feels like it should have been a tougher fight.

"…Well, let's get the wind crystal activated." Kent said as we all approached the crystal; he held up the crystal and it shinned; when the light died I could feel the wind begin to blow for the first time in weeks…it felt nice.

"AHH!" What!? We turned around and were shocked to see that Tiamat had gotten back up and all of his heads were back…and in his center head he was clutching a bleeding Sena between his jaws.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Kent screeched pulling his sword out and stabbed Tiamat in the stomach making it fall over still clutching Sena, "Sena I'll get you out!" As Kent approached he was swatted away by a tail and Tiamat laughed with one of its other heads.

"You cannot defeat me Kent, I will come back over and over again to kill you!" As he laughed Kent went silent and rushed forward grabbing something from Sena's body and digging into his pocket pulling something out.

"Fine…then it's just you and me." He backed up and rushed over to me pushing a small bag into my bag and pushing all of us behind the crystal towards a green pad; "Guys…get out of here."

"What!? Are you crazy?" I asked unable to believe what he was saying, "You can't take him on alone!"

"No…but I can take him with me."

"N-No! Y-You can't die!" Lily said starting to tear up.

"Listen guys…before I met you guys I was content just letting the other warriors be my only friends…but you guy stood by me even after everything I tried to do to you…even after finding everyone I was glad to see you guys stood by you…this is my way of repaying you for standing by me…so run…run and live!"

"Like hell!" Gareth yelled.

"We won't let you sacrifice yourself, we came this far to stop you from dying! We won't let this happen!" I said.

"…Sorry Soren…for every time I tried to hurt you." With those words he pushed all of us back into the pad and the last thing I saw was Kent walking away with his sword and shield brandished as Tiamat roared at him.

We fell into sand suddenly and I stood up in a panic looking around to find out where we were; we were back in the mirage dessert in front of the mirage tower…where was the mirage tower!?

"What happened? Where did they go?!" Gareth said also in a blind panic looking for Kent; Alice and Lily looked up at the sky with a look of horror; Gareth and I looked up at the sky at what they were so shocked at. In the distance we could see a large explosion from high in the sky…the sky fortress was no more…and neither was Kent or Sena…the Warriors of Light were dead…and we had failed.


	19. Chapter 19

…It's been a week since we watched the sky fortress explode and we were still stuck here; it took a day or two but we had figured out that technically we had finished our quest…even if we lost the Warriors of Light at the end we had brought all four crystals back. For the first few days we spent time lamenting over the fact that every warrior had died; I stayed silent, Alice hid her pain as well as she could but it came out in more anger than sadness, Gareth was lost on how to cheer us up…as well as himself as he was unsure of how to come to terms with what happened…and Lily cried. For her it felt like watching her brother die over and over again and she was unable to do anything again; when we finally came back together as a group we decided to figure out why we were stuck here…it was the only thing we could do now, we had no leads on where to go and what to do. We headed back to Cornelia to find people were celebrating the crystals return while others seemed to be shackled in deep despair; apparently even with the crystals restored the earth was still rotting, the seas produced no fish, the land was turning colder and the air was foul. Even after defeating the fiends the land fared no better, the world continued to die even with the return of the crystals…was the bared right, was it too late when we began?

"So we're stuck in this world." Alice said as we sat down on a nearby field as people passed by, "We have no way home and we don't know what to do next."

"Maybe this is our punishment for letting the heroes die?" I said sulking.

"But…um…I'm sure…ah." Gareth said stumbling on what to say to cheer us up; no matter how many days passed we all still felt less enthusiastic about our situation with the others gone; it was different to experience coming close to death and letting others die. When we survived dangerous situations we came out with more confidence and courage but when we let others die the only thing I felt was shame and failure at how badly we had acted that led to their death. To think we had gotten so far only to lose everything at the end; even if others say we succeeded it didn't feel like we had, it only felt hollow and unfufiled.

"…Maybe if one of us had finished the game we would know if there is more." Gareth said in a low tone as he sighed; he was right though, in the last two worlds we only knew what to do because we had knowledge on the whole story but now we were working blind…without Sena even Kent was lost on where to go. As we sat in our own sorrow I could hear a passing conversation.

"Did you hear about what happened in Gaia?"

"Yeah, apparently monsters had crossed the mountains and attacked it, the town was razed to the ground." What!?

"Gaia's been destroyed?" Lily said with pure shock across her face.

"Isn't that where the fairies live?" Alice said standing up…Wendy!

We boarded the airship and made a straight line for Gaia as fast as we could; as we traveled through the sky the clouds became darker as we approached the area over the town; was it going to start raining soon?

"G-G-G-Guy? Y-You might w-want t-to see th-this." Lily said starting to shiver as she pointed over the edge of the ship; stopping the ship and moving over to where Lily is we all took a look at what she was pointing to. In the distance the town of Gaia was burning with an intense flame, the smoke from the flames flowed into the clouds above, guess it wasn't going to rain; Alice and Lily covered their noses suddenly while Gareth had a confused look on his face as he sniffed. Taking in a deep whiff I reeled back at the familiar stench; no matter how many times I smelled this I could never get used to it and I don't think I ever will, it was the smell of death and burning flesh. Suddenly Lily convulsed onto the deck of the ship and Alice moved to rub her back as she took shaky breaths; I don't think she could take it if we went in there, looking over Gareth was trying to hold back as he took deep breaths trying to collect his stomach; I'm guessing it wasn't just motion sickness he was feeling there.

"Alice, you and me have to go in on our own." I said and she gave a nod understanding my reasoning in an instant; Gareth and Lily wouldn't be able to handle it and…this wasn't the first time we've seen burning corpses. Landing the ship we rushed out and headed into the burning town; We held up our coats to keep us from breathing in the smoke as we looked for any survivors, we moved around finding the town empty of people as well as monsters; only fire seemed to inhabit this town, we still have one place to check. Rushing to the forest we brushed through the trees until we came to the fairy lake; as we approached it we saw a boy in light green hair standing amongst the flames looking out to the small lake; as we moved closer I looked around to see fairies scattered around on the ground.

"Look out!" I looked around at where the voice was coming from to see Wendy flying towards me; she crashed into me and scurried into my coat as the green haired boy turned around; he looked at us and his face curled into a wicked smile as he began to laugh at us.

"It worked! I knew that if I attacked a village you would come scurrying like hapless whelps who think they can do anything…you couldn't even save the warriors from destruction." No…it can't be!

"Tiamat!?"

"That's right, sadly I can no longer dull the wind crystal but at least the warriors are dead."

"How the hell are you still alive!?" Alice said enraged.

"You blew up with the sky fortress!" I added drawing one sword.

"You don't think that's enough to kill a fiend do you? Ever wonder why no corpse is left when you kill us? We're stronger than that, you can't kill a fiend!"

"But…we've killed three!"

"No, you just set us back…and now that the crystals are restored we have to resort to plan b. In my opinion it's the much more fun plan." What did he mean…what was plan b? Suddenly my longsword and Alice's katana began to glow; the others were trying to contact us, looking into it I saw Lily with a panicked look on her face.

"Soren, Alice, we need your help! Get back to the ship!" The connection suddenly cut off making Alice and I panic; Tiamat gave a howling laugh as we rushed away towards the airship outside of town; waves of monsters poured in from all corners of town as we rushed to get back to the ship hacking apart monsters that tried to attack us, they were lying in wait for us! Once we made it to the ship we saw it surrounded by monsters of all shapes and sizes as Gareth and Lily fought them off on deck; we climbed onboard through the hordes of enemies and pulling enemies off Gareth and Lily.

"Thank god you two are okay." Gareth said with a huff, "These monsters just showed up once you entered the town and they just keep coming!" He took a wide swing slicing through five ogres and then moving next to Lily and taking one half as they sliced a perfect circle of enemies; this wasn't good, even if we took out the group around our ship monsters keep swarming to the area, we were going to need a change in location.

"Gareth switch out with Alice and switch to a defense stance, Lily switch to support until I say! I'm going to get us air born!"

"Air born!? I can't fight motion sick!" Gareth yelled back at me.

"That's why I'm switching you to defense." With that I moved to the helm and began to take off; as the ship started rising I rocked from side to side shaking off monsters that were currently trying to climb on. Getting high enough off the ground I moved from the helm back to the deck and began taking out the monsters still onboard; block, block, wide swing; haste, double strike, double strike, spin! After half an hour we had cleared the deck of all monsters; falling to the ground with Alice and Lily we all caught our breaths putting all our energy into breathing and regaining our strength.

"How…how many monsters are down there now?" Alice said getting back up and sheathing her katana; as I stood back up I moved over to the side of the airship to see the entire peninsula the town was on was covered in monsters. There was no corner that wasn't covered in a group of monsters and them grouped together created a darkness that felt endless as I stared.

"Is it safe to come out?" Wendy asked emerging out of my coat and flying around, "I'm glad you guys showed up, Tiamat would have killed me."

"Well it's good to see you're safe." I replied calming her, "…I'm sorry we couldn't save the others."

"I-It's okay…they tried there hardest…but no one can match the strength of a fiend."

"How are they back?" Alice asked.

"The fiends are beings who have been connected to the crystals since they dulled their powers. As long as those crystals exist so do the fiends."

"So we can never defeat them!?" Gareth asked shocked by the news.

"…I'm afraid not…but they cannot stop the crystals once they reactivate."

"S-So it's a catch 22." Lily said in reference to…a book?

"That must be why their attacking the surface now." I said thinking, "With the crystals reactivated and the warriors dead they only have one choice."

"G-Global takeover?" Lily asked sounding already aware of the answer…if they took the area over this quickly then…

"We have to check Cornelia!" I said in panic as everyone gave the same look back at me feeling my tension and worry. As we soared over the world Lily took record of every monster covered area and what towns were in ruin; as we hovered over Cornelia I jumped from the helm over to the side of the ship looking down at the town. The entire town was covered head to toe in monsters but the castle seemed untouched by the horror; using the telescope on top of the crow's nest Gareth looked down at the door to the castle.

"…The doors are barred but a group of giants are trying to break it down. It looks like the doors are made of steel but they're bending them." Gareth reported, "I don't think we can get in through that door…we could try the upper window?" I looked out to see a light coming out of the top window; if we enter through there than we can evacuate anyone left through a ladder up to the ship.

"Soren do you think you can get us close to that window?" Alice asked on the same page I am; I moved back to the helm and started to slowly descend until we were a few feet above the top tower, I heard Alice let down the ladder and looked to see her and Lily move down the ladder, "We'll grab who we can while you keep the ship steady."

"You realize I barely know how to fly." I informed her and she shrugged.

"You've been doing well so far. Just keep the ship next to the window!" Moving back to the helm I took hold of the wheel keeping it steady; as I kept my concentration I suddenly heard a creature cry.

"We've got…company Soren…urp!" Oh crap!

 **Alice**

I slid down the ladder and jumped into the window rolling onto the carpet and Lily followed behind slowly moving down the ladder; she took a breath and hopped onto the edge of the window, pulling her in I looked around feeling a strange chill in the air. I looked down at the carpet to see a fresh blood stain coating the carpet but it wasn't monster blood…it was human blood; only human blood has that deep crimson color. Lily gave a small gasp as I pointed her attention to it, following the stain path it followed to the throne where the king sat with a large gash in his arm and a vacant expression in his eyes; he was dead in his own chair. Lily averted her eyes from the corpse I moved up and examined the body; he seemed to have been killed recently, his body is still warm; which means that his daughter should be here as well. I looked behind the throne to see the green haired princess sobbing quietly behind the throne; touching her shoulder she recoiled and looked up with a terrified look on her face, as she looked at me her expression calmed.

"Thank goodness. I thought you were my father's attacker." She said in relief.

"Yeah well he's not here anymore and your father is dead. Is there anyone else in the castle still alive?" I asked helping her up.

"…N-No, it's j-just me now…"

"Then let's get you out of here while we still can." Suddenly I heard the loud cry of a creature and looked over at the window to see a falcon like creature fly at us; Lily swung her scythe quickly cutting it in half.

"You aren't leaving here alive princess." Over at the doorway I saw a girl with long bright red hair and a cocky smile looking at us…if green was Tiamat then this was…

"Marilith." I said with a scowl and her smile became larger.

"It's nice to see you remember me, I've been meaning to pay you back for what you did and I intend to." She threw a scimitar at me which I blocked sending it into a nearby pillar where it stuck out, "No matter how many times I have to die." As much as I would love to kill her again I don't think we can waste time right now; grabbing the princess I slung her over my shoulder and tilted my head to the window at Lily. She hopped out grabbing the ladder and climbed up as I followed; Marilith threw her swords trying to stop me as I grabbed onto the ladder with one hand.

"Lily, pull me up!" She pulled the rope ladder up as Marilith continued to slice at me as I dodged the best I could occasionally getting sliced along the leg and arms; as I handed Sarah over to Lily and climbed over the edge I felt an intense pain in my right leg, I looked to see she had impaled a scimitar into my leg. Kicking her in the face she fell into the town below laughing manically; she knew she would come back…but why were they coming back as humans? I climbed onto the deck and flopped to the floor pulling the blade out of my leg and held back my instinct to scream as Lily and Soren rushed over to help.

"Oh no, the wound is really deep. I can't heal this as easily." Lily said with a panicked look on her face, "M-M-Matoya gave me s-some h-herbs to n-numb the pain but w-w-we need all the m-magic we can use."

"Then I have an idea." Soren said confidently.

"Soren…if this is a-hng! Half-assed plan…then I will personally-ah!" Soren grabbed my arm and looked me in the eyes with a calming look.

"Calm down Alice, you're going to hurt yourself if you get to angry." As he talked to me I felt my cheeks flare up.

"I-Idiot…you better know what you're doing." I replied looking away trying to keep my face from turning into a tomato…damn it every time he does that I turn into a mess.

"Lily I want you to pour as much healing magic as you can into her, I'm going to pour ether into your mouth when you start to get tired. We'll keep going until the leg is mended." Lily gave a nod and they turned to me to get my consent on the plan; feeling another twinge of pain go up my leg I gave a hurried nod ready to alleviate this pain. She held her hands out and a small glow surrounded my leg and I felt a warm numbing feeling surround my injury, "You okay Alice?"

"Yeah…it feels numbing and soothing…where's Gareth?"

"Currently keeping his stomach content down; I left Sarah with Wendy in one of the rooms. Right now we have to focus on healing you." Lily began to pant heavily and Soren popped off the top to an ether and poured it into her mouth holding her jaw to keep her head steady, "You can do this Lily; don't worry I'm here." After ten minutes the leg wasn't bleeding but the wound was still open; Lily stopped as she woozily tilted from side to side.

"I…think I need…a break." Lily said panting heavily; even with the ethers to keep her magic energy up it took a mental and physical strain that her body couldn't take for very long, moving quickly Soren bandaged up my leg and picked me up bridal style as Lily caught her breath.

"Looks like you'll be out of commission until Lily can use her magic again. I'll put you with Sarah and Wendy for right now."

"O-O-Okay just h-hurry up!" I responded, "A-And don't t-think th-this will b-be a regular thing you m-moron!" Damn it.

 **Soren**

After leaving Alice with Sarah and Wendy I headed back to the deck to see Lily back on her feet and taking deep breaths.

"Okay…I-I'm ready for another round." Lily said her face still red from strain; patting her on the head I gave her a gentle smile.

"Take a break for right now. I need the map with markings of areas with monsters." I said and she handed me the map she made; spreading it out on the floor I looked over the entire area, it seemed like every town was surrounded by a gaggle of monsters while others were completely destroyed by monsters. We couldn't go anywhere…wait…Mount Duergar is still clear…the blacksmith, "We're headed for Mount Duergar." I informed and she gave a confused look, "Trust me on this. Can you go make sure Gareth is ready by the time we land?" She nodded still lost on what I was doing but pulled out a book of fairy tales and rushed off; that was…confusing, I moved to the helm and took off heading for Mount Duergar at full speed and landed right outside the mountain entrance blocking anyone from getting in. Once I landed Gareth and Lily rushed on deck to regroup with me, "You two stay here and protect the ship; I'm going to go see who's left alive in the mines." Leaving them their missions I jumped off the ship and moved into the mines to find who was left.

The interior was dimly lit and some areas were darker than others; even if the mines were usually dimly lit there were definitely less lamps lit then the last time I was here with…Kent…hold it together Soren! Moving further in all I could hear was the clanging of metal and the echo that it created; the blacksmith was definitely here still, I opened the door to see him still hard at work turning mythril to weapons at an alarming rate.

"Blacksmith we have to get out of here." I said approaching him and he didn't stop at all even as I approached him, "Monsters are attacking and everyone else has run, please come with me."

"I ain't leavin laddie. Should monsters invade I shall not rest until I have created the greatest weapon in history!" That's right! I pulled out the adamantite and showed it to him; his eyes lit up as he stared at it, handing it to him he took it and started his work at a rapid pace. It was like watching the flash run around a room cleaning it with how fast he moved and worked eager to complete his masterpiece but in those moments of stopping he still looked like he was putting the time care and energy into making this an amazing blade, "It's done…take a look laddie, it be the best piece I ever created." He held the blade up as it shinned with its own radiance and light all its own; it was truly a legendary blade.

"Too bad no one will get to see its power." The door creaked open revealing a sullen looking man with shaggy brown hair in a black cloak; as I looked at him I felt a deep despair and fear trying to overcome me with a cold wind…I remember this feeling.

"Lich."

"Good to know I left an impression; perhaps that will last in the afterlife once I'm done with you." He shot a wave of death at me and I grabbed the blade from the blacksmith and took a swing overwhelming the death wave and hitting Lich knocking him down, as he burn to death from the overwhelming light power of the blade, "HAHAHAHA! This won't stop me! I can't be killed this easily, none of us can…death will come for you! HAHAHAHAH!" He cackled insanely as he shriveled into dust.

"Thank ye laddie. I owe ye me life. Take the blade. You may need it in your travels." I tossed the blade back to him and he gave me a confused look.

"I'm here to save you, if you want to repay me then come with me and survive." He gave me a wide grin and laughed.

"I like ye lad, all right, I'll leave this place. Me job is done, so I'll follow you." He held out his hand and I gripped it in solidarity, "Call me Brokkr me boy."

"Okay Brokkr, let's get you out of here." We moved back outside and boarded the airship where Gareth and Lily were currently dealing with undead enemies; moving in I sliced them up with all my speed but they kept attacking. Damn it, without Alice we had no way of enchanting our weapons with light to take on the undead…light, "Brokkr! The blade!" He drew the weapon and did a wide swipe as I moved Gareth and Lily out of the way; as the wave of light hit the undead they disintegrated into pure dust.

"Holy hell! What was that?" Gareth said impressed.

"This be the holy blade Excalibur, blade of kings and pure light." Brokkr said raising his blade to the sky.

"Wow, th-that's amazing." Lily said impressed.

"Where are we headed next boy." Brokkr asked; Lily handed me the map and I took a glance for other still populated areas…Crescent Lake is still clear?

"Looks like we're headed for Crescent Lake." I said handing back the map; I looked up at the sky to see lightning fill the skies…something bad was about to happen, "We'd better hurry. Lily go help Alice; Gareth keep Lily magically charged while she's healing Alice. We're going to need her up and about just in case…also I'm guessing being stuck in a bed is the last thing she wants. Brokkr go and meet up with Sarah and Wendy while I take us to Crescent Lake; Gareth I want you and Lily to find any survivors when we get there…I need a little thinking time to figure out where we should head after that." They nodded and I felt a twinge of pain in my mind; I think I needed a break later. I took to the helm and took off into the sky hurrying to Crescent Lake before the monsters would consume it; as I drove the skies turned darker and the air became colder, come on ship hurry. Hovering over the town in the middle of the lake I looked around relieved to see nothing swarming the simple village; touching down Lily and Gareth geared up ready to head out, "Find anyone you can guys. I'm sure someone is still here…it's the only place left."

"…Don't worry man." Gareth said putting his hand on my shoulder, "We'll bring back who we can. Count on it!"

"W-We'll try our best." Lily said trying to be confident as Gareth wrapped his hand around Lily.

"We'll do better than our best!" As he spoke confidently Lily turned redder; hehehe.

"Thanks; I know you guys can do it." With that they headed off leaving me to think on our next step…this was the last area that wasn't claimed by monsters…wait…the points where the lights touch.

 **Gareth**

As Lily and I walked into town I could feel a distinct lack of presence, the town felt empty and hollow; but that wasn't surprising, not only because of the state of the world but because all the energy and people in this town was centered around the elders we had met before. Every shop was empty; churches devoid of prophets or followers and inns ransacked for what they had left, this town was empty of anything.

"L-Let's check for the sages in the forest. H-Hopefully they're still there." Lily said pointing to the path leading out of the town; guess it was as good a place to check as any for people, those sages were wise but didn't look very tough. Approaching the circle of trees the first thing I saw was one of the sages face down in the grass as blood poured from his body; I'm guessing he's not getting up anytime soon, he was killed recently…very recently if he's still bleeding. Stopping Lily and pointing to the body she gave a small gasp trying to stay quiet and pulled out her scythe as I pulled out my axe gripping it tightly; we weren't about to let anything get the jump on us!

"You're a resilient old bastard at least I'll give you that…but that doesn't mean you're getting out of here alive, you can only cast so many healing spells before you finally run out of energy." We moved further in to see a blue haired man holding a whip and standing over an old man as he panted and wheezed obviously exhausted.

"No force could predict this; even with the crystals restored the world is still locked in turmoil with you wayward creatures of darkness. With the Warriors of Light extinguished we must now do all we can; until I have met my end I will survive to help those who need it!" The sage said standing up with a look of determination in his eyes.

"Noble concept for a sage. It's too bad you'll never get to help anyone. Time to extinguish your light for good!" Rushing in I blocked the whip as it coiled around the handle smacking against my arm as I felt something pierce my flesh; when he tried pulling the whip back I felt my axe try to pull from my hands and my arm try to do the same. I pulled the whip off seeing thin metal blades lining the whip; my arm bled in small cuts from where the whip hit me; that was one cool and dangerous whip, he looked at us and chuckled, "So you showed up...after losing the WOLs I expected you to cower and cry like children."

"I'm flattered. A fiend is using my acronym." I return giving him a cocky grin at which he laughed.

"Well I've heard it enough times from frightened villagers. Some praying for their help and others curing their weakness to stop this. All sounds the same once they die though, just screams of pain and hopelessness."

"Then allow me to give you a change of audience!" I leapt forward taking a quick swing knocking him back, "This audience screams a resounding cheer of victory in your defeat!" He stood up and swung his whip at me again; as I moved to dodge it Lily swung sticking her scythe into the ground and hopping back as the whip curled around the staff-like handle of the weapon screeching against the metal. Moving forward Lily grabbed her weapon and pulled it out of the ground yanking the whip end with her; I grabbed it as well pulling the weapon out of his hand; sliding the whip off her scythe handle she vaulted forward kicking the blue haired boy to the ground.

"G-Gareth get the sage o-out of here." Lily said keeping the boy pinned with all her strength, "I-I don't think I can hold him for long."

"…Wait…you! The girl that lopped off my head!" What was he talking about, "You came back to finish me? Didn't bring your other friends though? Thought you would have killed this one by now." He…He must talking about Sukia…but that was back with…

"Kraken!?"

"Slow on the upkeep boy." He said grabbing Lily's leg and throwing her at me; catching her I fell backwards into the grass dropping my axe, getting up we looked to see Kraken heading for his whip; not if I can help it! Diving forward I pushed Kraken back and punched him in the face knocking him into the thicket of trees.

"Let's get out of here before he gets up!" I said grabbing the old man as Lily grabbed our weapons; rushing out of the woods I heard a loud explosion and looked to see the forest was ablaze; I think we pissed him off.

"Ah!" Lily gave a small shriek and I turned to see monsters beginning to rise out of the water; she gave a swift kick sending the creature on her leg back down but others began to pop out of the water lunging at us jaws wide open. Ducking a weaving we moved away from any body of water quickly not wanting to become underwater chow; we rushed out of the town heading for the ship as fast as we could, jumping onboard I handed the sage to Lily who helped him to the rooms as I headed to the helm. Bursting in I looked to see Soren looking at the map with an intense look in his eyes; shaking him out of it I told him to get us in the air now at which he gave a nod of confusion before heading to the wheel and raising us into-urp! Okay, my job's done, time to go vomit.

 **Soren**

As Gareth rushed off with a green look on his face I raised the ship into the sky as various monsters seemed to group under the ship reaching up and trying to grab it from what I heard; when we were far enough into the sky I set the ship to hover and looked back at the map crossing off the Crescent town. We had saved as many people as we could going to every area but we only managed to save four people; a princess, a fairy, a dwarf and a sage; out of everyone in the world we could only save four people.

"Damn it!" I slammed my fist down pissed at the lack of people we saved; it seemed like we had tried so hard but got nowhere even after all the work we did, now we were stuck on a ship in the sky as monsters and fiends destroyed the land below.

"Soren." I turned to see Alice at the doorway with everyone else behind her, "That was the last area and so far we've been able to save four people…but we have a bigger problem on our hands."

"What do you mean?"

"Remember when we encountered Tiamat at the fairy lake? Well Lily and I ran into Marilith when we saved Sarah."

"A-And Gareth and I ran into Kraken when we saved the sage." Lily added.

"…So they're back to. I saw Lich when I saved Brokkr back in the mines." I said and they all gave a worried look, "It's true, they can't be killed, we can't get rid of them."

"…Maybe not in this time." The sage said stepping forward, "I fear this may be my fault, no matter how many times we looked into the future we saw this outcome, we believed the Warriors of Light would change this once the fiends were defeated but it seems as though we were wrong." With a sullen look he took a long sigh, "But as I thought about I realized something."

"What?" We all asked eager for a next step.

"There is no future here…but there is a way to change that. We need to travel 2000 years into the past."


	20. Chapter 20

"We need to travel 2000 years into the past!?" Lily asked in shock at his plan.

"Yeah let's just fire up a time machine and back to the future our way there." Gareth said sarcastically; even he thought it was a crazy plan.

"Time machine?" Wendy asked.

"Back to the future?" Sarah said oblivious to his reference and understandably so.

"Gareth nobody knows what you're talking about." Alice said giving him a condescending look for referencing something from earth so openly at which he just shrugged.

"I hear sages be wise an worldly. Ye should know we can go back in time." Brokkr said

"You believe him?" Gareth asked.

"No, it's just his accent." Lily pointed out, "When he said 'can' he meant 'can't.' "

"Ah."

"So Sage why did you suggest time travel?" I asked.

"Because it is possible." He said with a serious look on his face, "I have lived multiple iterations of this life over and over again and each time it seems to stop a few weeks after we encountered the WOLs the universe doesn't change." He then raised his staff to the sky and a large screen appeared above him; it showed Kent, Hana, Pent and Sena all meeting with the sages with a confused look on their faces…as I looked I felt my heart sting and a tear fall down my face. We failed to save them and it still hurt to think that they were gone, "This is a universe where the world was peaceful and untouched by the fiends…and yet these four were decked in armor and equipment that had never been made and only made in another universe. They had changed the past of their world and created a new future for themselves; so they were able to get to the past and do something, we just have to figure out what." It was mostly sound, I could find a few flaws with his explanation but at this point I was willing to believe anything that could save our friends.

"Soren!" Lily said with a look of realization on her face as she tapped on my shoulder; I turned to her and she opened up her map showing me the four points she had marked earlier, she then pointed to where the points met, "I-Isn't this the Chaos Shrine?" She was right, the points all met at the Chaos Shrine where we faced Garland and more importantly Owen and Damien…or Shifty I suppose; that reminds me…maybe later.

"The Chaos Shrine. Connects the present to the past." We turned to where the voice was coming from to see the minstrel group sitting at the edge of the ship; how did they get on without anyone noticing?

"Danny, Jon, Jessie?" I said surprised, Jessie giggled and Jon gave a nod, "How did you get on the ship? We took off a few hours ago."

"A matter we'll be sure to talk about at a later time but now I believe we were discussing the Chaos Shrine." Danny said brushing off the conversation.

"Did you say it connects the present to the past?" Alice asked confused by his statement.

"There w-was nothing like that in the books on it." Lily said flipping through her notes franticly looking for any mention of the connection of the present to the past.

"You wouldn't find it in any book…after all the Chaos Shrine is an anomaly in this world."

"An anomaly?" Gareth asked.

"Yes." Jon said in a monotone voice, "The ruins were discovered 1500 years ago but they could find no record of it."

"So it doesn't belong in this time?" Sarah asked and Jessie waved her finger.

"Well I suppose it could but it mysteriously vanished 2000 years ago. The kicker here is that it disappeared off the world…and out of everyone's memory."

"What!?" The sage said giving a gasp that surprised all of us as well; we thought he knew everything.

"Yep, it was almost like it was erased from the world…or taken out of the universe." …

"What do you mean?" I asked slightly worried by what he was saying.

"If you were to remove something from the universe then wouldn't it be the same as that thing never existing in the first place." …

"So…what if you add something to the universe?" Lily asked.

"Well if were talking theoretically then I suppose the universe wouldn't be affected by their addition or removal their after…it would be just like meeting a…traveler." ! I felt myself back up in surprise as Gareth, Lily and Alice did the same, "Isn't that right?" Something obviously different about these three and this confirmed it for me…were they also travelers…or something more?

"…Ay is everyone okay?" Brokkr asked.

"Maybe a little disrupted but I'm sure it'll be okay. They've made it this far after all." With that the tension in the air dissipated again as the three min- no the three…somethings went back to their usual attitude, "Now I have a question for you eight. The Chaos Shrine disappeared 2000 years ago and reappeared as ruins five hundred years later. It disappeared from the universe for five hundred years taking with it the four fiends. The Chaos shrine has only one piece in tact after it came back…what was it?" The most put together piece of the whole thing…

"The orb?" I asked.

"Precisely Soren, that orb is an artifact that's one of a kind. Only one exists in this world and it disappeared 2000 years ago…so how is it back now?"

"It came back when the shrine came back." Alice answered.

"That's right!" Jessie said, "And do you guys know of a spell that can link items?"

"W-We used it on our weapons." Lily said.

"Well did you know that spell works across time?"

"As long as two items have the same spell cast on them then they stay connected." Jon said; is that how they connect the past to the present…no…they couldn't.

"But it's the same item, even if it's the same item it doesn't work that way. If that were the case we could talk to our past selves." I pointed out.

"True but what if it's the same item…from a different dimension." What!?

"So the orb that's there right now is from a different dimension?" Alice asked surprised at the news.

"It's the only way, how else would you connect the same object without splitting it in half?"

"W-Wait!" Lily said in a hurry catching everyone by surprise, "I w-was there earlier…before you guys and the orb wasn't there when we met up with Garland." So it only showed up after Lily which means someone brought it there.

"So did Owen bring it?" Gareth asked revealing the fact we needed.

"So Owen has been in league with Garland for 2000 years!?" Alice said shocked at the length; no, it can't be! He couldn't have been alive for two thousand years; it's impossible!

"He sure doesn't look two thousand that's for sure." Gareth said crossing his arms.

"B-But if time is flexible when y-you jump from dimension t-to dimension t-then he could have moved to the past by using another dimension as m-middle ground." Lily pointed out; without any knowledge of how dimensions work I have no way of proving if that's wrong or not…knowing her it probably is.

"Is that why the fiends are back?" I asked.

"I'm guessing your enemy in the cloak added a link between the fiends and the crystals making it so they come back as long as the crystals exist. It makes it impossible to get rid of them from this time." So we have to travel into the past to stop them from linking with the crystals so they can't regenerate in the future and slowly destroy the world; but we can't just travel 2000 years into the past…even through a linked item.

"So how are we going to get into the past? A link spell only gives items connection." Sarah asked.

"It is possible to teleport between two linked objects but it takes a lot of magic to open a connection." Wendy pointed out, "Fairies used it to link us back to the pond before they started drying up. It took ten fairies to open up a portal."

"So it's possible but not easy." I said out loud thinking.

"What if you had a channel to enhance the strength of your magic?" Alice asked, "Remember the rod in Hyrule Soren?" That's right! Even my miniscule magical ability came out powerful when I used the rod…but any rod or staff we have won't be strong enough…if we have any; we've been using the same weapons we got from Brokkr ever since he made them for us. The only people who used rods were Hana and Sena…damn it stop it Soren!

"What could we use though?" I asked.

"Wait!" Sarah said getting our attention, "Do you still have the lute I gave you?" Gareth pulled it out showing it to her, "This lute has been passed down for 2000 years…maybe it can be used as a channeling item for magic." I've never heard of a loot or music being used to channel magic…wait…damn it Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rock.

"That could work."

"Really Soren?" Gareth asked surprised, "I've never heard of that working before."

"Trust me, it's happened before." I said feeling embarrassed.

"Then let's get moving." Danny said confidently.

"But I can't play it!" Sarah said hastily, "I may have held on to it but I never learned how to play it."

"Don't worry." Jessie said with a wink, "We've got it covered!" With an idea of where to go Lily and I began charting our way to the Chaos Shrine and into the past…not a line I thought I'd ever say.

"Um…we might have a problem." Lily said with a worried look as we moved over the Chaos Shrine; looking over the edge I was shocked to see a sea of monsters covering the entire area around the shrine, looking closer I could see the four fiends as humans at the entrance. We were being blocked from the entrance; they expected us to show up and were ready to stop us from going to the past; we couldn't fight our way in, even with twelve people it wouldn't be possible with how many monsters are down there…maybe we could…! Suddenly the ship lurched making everyone fall to the side and Gareth to stain the ship with vomit; getting back up I looked over the side to see bird like creature crashing themselves into the hull of the wooden ship putting holes into it.

"We're slowly descending!" Alice said in a worried anger, "At this rate we're going to crash!" What should we do, we'll be drawn into a fight against monster hoards at this point.

"At least urp-…we'll take a few of them out…ugh." Poor Gareth…wait…that's it!

"Gareth you're a genius!" I said and he chuckled before vomiting again, "Wendy, into my pocket, Jon grab Gareth and then everyone move to the edge of the ship near the shrine!" Wendy soared into my coat pocket as everyone started moving to the side as we were rammed by bird after bird; I rushed back to the helm and as we fell I tilted the ship towards the shrine and it began to turn on its side.

"Soren you're going to send us overboard!" Sarah said worried.

"Are ye trying to kill us!?" Brokkr said angrily.

"Grab onto the railing; everyone aim for the entry way and jump on my mark!" I answered as the ship moved on its side sending me into the side railing; grabbing it I shimmied over to the group, looking over I watched as we moved closer and closer to the Chaos Shrine as we descended, "Wait for it…" The ship started to touch the ground skidding across the monster hoard and dirt, "Wait for it…" Closer and closer we came and the fiends got a quizzical look on their faces, "Almost…" As the entry way came closer the fiends got a worried look on their faces; as I was able to see the color of their eyes I reeled back, "NOW!" I leapt forward diving into the door way just above the fiends as everyone followed; rolling into the shrine I heard a loud crash and looked behind to see the remains of the ship blocking the entryway; now they can't enter for a while. I looked around to see everyone had made it in to my relief; as relief washed over me I felt someone punch me across the head.

"Are you insane!? That was one of your top crazy plans!" Alice said angrily, "Geez, every time I leave you with a plan on the fly it ends up in destruction."

"What do you mean?" I asked rubbing the back of my head and she pointed to the entrance where our ship was currently stuck in pieces, "We don't need it anymore, we've got to travel to the past and I don't think we can bring it with us."

"Fine…but what now?" Standing up and shrugging off the pain from the roll I walked into the center room as everyone followed behind with Wendy sitting on my shoulder; as I approached the dark orb the bats in the room flew around us in a flurry. Touching the orb I felt it pulsate with a dark energy and as I held on that dark energy flowed up my arm causing a small electrical jolt to course through my body at once. This was definitely what we were looking for; backing away I shook my hand hopping to end the numbing feeling from the shock; stepping forward Danny pulled out the princesses' lute and began to strum it with a beautiful melody. As he played the lute Jessie danced while Jon played his triangle to the music; as they moved in sync a soft glow began to radiate from the orb, looks like the music was working. They continued to play but the glow didn't intensify anymore; we didn't have enough magic to open the portal…wait…the energy of the crystals would have the magic we need, even a fraction would work. I pulled out the bag Kent threw me before he died opening it up, it had all four orbs that had absorbed the energy of the crystals; hopefully it had the magic we needed to open the door to the past. Handing an orb to Alice, Lily and Gareth we all held them up to the sky as they gave a bright glow blinding everyone; when it died the crystals were dull and grey, they gave no shine of power any more. There was a gasp and I looked to see a giant portal opening up into a giant temporal vortex; that was our portal to the past and to the root of this evil.

"We're ready." Danny said with a chuckle; as we stood there a loud explosion was heard behind us, as I turned I ducked as a board of wood flew over my head disappearing into the portal; looks like the block was short lived.

"Sorry but we won't let you end our fun." The Lich said walking forward with the other three fiends behind him; we can't let them follow us through the portal, if they do then we have to deal with doubles of the fiends!

"Save your fun for the festival when this is all over." Danny said walking forward and drawing two knives from his cloak, Jessie pulled out a Scimitar and Jon drew a great sword, "You eight head into the portal, we'll hold these fiends off for you."

"We can't leave you!" I said confidently drawing my twin longswords; I wasn't going to let my friends sacrifice themselves for me again!

"Soren, you have to go. I know you want to keep others from sacrificing themselves but you and your friends need to stop this cycle. Besides, I don't plan on dying here!" That confident voice…was that-

"Soren, trust them, we have to go before the portal closes." Alice said pointing to the portal as it grew and shrank trying to contain itself.

"…Fine! Don't die Danny." He gave a nod as we entered the portal into the past.

…Ow…hng…where…where am I…why does my stomach feeling like crap…standing up I looked around with hazy vision, taking a deep breath I focused until my vision returned to normal; time travel does hell to the body. I took a look around and was glad to see everyone was also here; the area around was ordained and polished, it was weird to think this was the Chaos Shrine that was decrepit and old…but this was the Shrine from two thousand years earlier, it felt more like a castle than a shrine though and the atmosphere was so divided, one minute I felt tense and the next I felt calm then hot and cold, it definitely felt chaotic.

"Owww…geez." Gareth said standing up, "We made it? Good…it felt weird going through that portal."

"Oooh…is it over?" Lily got up wobbling with a sickly look on her face, "A-Are we in the past?"

"Looks like it." Alice said rubbing her head, "Is everyone okay?" We all gave a nod and I looked over to see Sarah, Brokkr, Wendy and the Sage getting up.

"I'm too old for this." The sage said taking deep breaths.

"Ay magic is surely powerful." Brokkr said rubbing his back.

"You never get used to that feeling." Wendy said floating up wobbling from side to side.

"I never thought I would travel to the past…it's more exciting than my lessons." Sarah said getting up slowly with an excited tone in her voice; Miss Princess must have a wild streak as well.

"All right, we're close to the cause of all this. Is everyone ready?" I asked and they all pulled out a weapon with Sahara pulling out an elegant rapier, Brokkr pulling out the Excalibur blade, Wendy raised her hands with a magical glow and the sage held out his staff with a confident look in his eye; we were all ready!

…be safe minstrel band.

Exploring the interior of the past shrine I noticed that the exits were blocked off by large impassible pillars; seems this was the only piece of the past we would be able to see or experience.

"Alright we're going to need to be quick." The sage said, "We're 2000 years in the past but we don't know at what point."

"And?" Gareth asked.

"It means that we don't know when this place is going to be taken to another dimension." Alice pointed out.

"Lily do you know if there are any signs that indicate dimension traveling?" I asked Lily.

"W-Well it'll l-look like a tear in the world b-but other than that I don't know." She answered; looking around I wasn't able to find a window to see outside, we had no way of knowing when this place was going to be in another dimension so we had to find either the main villain or Owen as quickly as possible.

"Let's get moving, we don't have time to waste." As we all rushed to the stairs I found the area to be very empty; not so much in interior décor but in life, there wasn't a person or monster to be found, it felt wrong and tense. Moving down the stairs I felt a pinching feeling in my chest suddenly and looking around everyone else had that feeling as well; something was at the end of these stairs and it wasn't something simple.

"So he was right." At the end of the stairs stood a dirty blond haired boy with a demented smile on his face; it was the Lich, he's the only one who could give this feeling of death, "Four wannabes and four meddlers, I guess he was talking about you eight. This should be simple though, you can go if you want." Before I could draw my blade Brokkr and Gareth stepped forward.

"You guys go, we'll hold him off." Gareth said.

"Y-You sure you can take him?" Lily asked with a worried tone at which he gave a big grin.

"It's two against one; I think we can do it."

"Aye owe him a nice arse kicking for what he did to our home anyway. He ain't getting me yet." Brokkr said with a laugh.

"…All right…be careful Gareth." I said and he nodded back as we moved past them leaving Gareth and Brokkr to handle the fiend of earth.

 **Gareth**

Soren and the group ran by and the Lich took a turn to throw a spell at them; not on my watch, I moved up and swung knocking him into the wall.

"Oh I'm definitely not missing this." That voice! From the shadow stood Damien with a sly smile on his face, "Long time no see brute, I see you're stronger than when we last met but I'm guessing you're still a fool."

"Shut it shapeshifter!"

"Oh and still holding that angry attitude from before. I hope you put up more of a fight than last time."

"Brokkr can you handle Lich?" I asked and he nodded as he ran towards where the Lich crashed leaving me and Damien to fight one on one; he licked his lips as he looked at me and I felt my hands tremble slightly; come one Gareth, you can do this! I stood my ground focusing my defense as he rushed forward with his twin short swords; I've practiced against Soren who uses dual blades but he uses longswords, Damien was going to be quicker…but I'm guessing less precise. He slashed and hacked quickly trying to catch me off guard as I quickly blocked each hit I could with a few nicks and cuts along my chest and arms; pushing him back I focused on strength and took a swing at him with everything I had, he backed up dodging my cleave but I quickly switched to speed and swung up cutting along his chest making him stumble backwards.

"That's better! Show me all of your strength!" He said laughing manically as blood slowly bled from his chest wound; rushing at me he struck me in the face with his hit and sliced up my arm leaving a large gash along it, damn it now I can't hold my battle axe with both hands! Switching back to strength I held my axe with one hand and swung trying to catch him as he moved around with ease, "Is that it? I take one arm and you become weak? Pitiful." He thrusted forward and I changed to defense blocking his attack but sending me stumbling backwards; time to change tactics, I switched to speed and dropped the axe confusing him. Charging forward I swung with my good fist as he tried dodging having trouble matching my speed; I knew accuracy fell with speed increase but close range made accuracy unnecessary; as I saw an opening I swung in fast and switched to strength delivering a powerful punch to his cheek sending him tumbling to the ground.

"How…about that you shapeshifting bastard!" I said laughing as he stood up with a serious look on his face.

"Fine let's kick it up a notch." As he said that two more arms popped out of his back grabbing his extra blades; he tried this before against us but I wouldn't let him get me this time! Popping a potion open I poured it onto my arm wound feeling a slight sting as it healed; picking my axe back up I switched back to speed as he rushed at me swinging wildly as I blocked each blade one by one, he sliced along my leg and arms when I blocked one blade; for every two I blocked another two got through, guess I should go on the offensive! Pushing him off I switched back to strength and swung at him as he blocked with all four blades; with all of those blades he could handle me with a strength boost…guess I should put my body into it! Swinging with all my strength his blades flew up leaving his chest open as I took a wide swing slicing directly across his chest leaving a deep wound, "(Cough) Well…didn't(Hack) expect that to happen. It's very powerful…this isn't over Gareth, you may have won this round…but I will come back more powerful…and I will defeat you."

"I won't give you the chance!" I yelled rushing at him as he chuckled.

"Don't forget that this body is Damien's. You kill me and you kill him." What? With a stop inches from him I felt a sword go through my chest, "Let your guard down." I fell backwards and he stood over me, "So you are weak. Here I thought you would have to guts to take me out but you don't seem to have the strength to do it."

"I…won't hurt…someone who is innocent!" I stammered out through the coughing fits of blood, "You control Damien like a puppet and I…won't hurt him!"

"…That noble spirit doesn't suit you." He replied coldly, "You think you can protect someone already lost?"

"Soren and Alice did it…and now Lily is with us. Besides…it's what heroes do."

"You aren't a hero. You're just a boy who's in over his head."

"Maybe but…doesn't mean I won't try." He raised his blade and pulled it up ready to stab; "Besides…I'm not alone." As if in cue Brokkr rushed stabbing the shapeshifter in the arm knocking him off me.

"I'm getting sick of backstabs! Why won't you die!?" Shoving an elixir down my throat I felt my body burn as the bitter medicine moved down my throat; standing up I grabbed my axe and pointed it at him.

"There's too much at stake to just give up now."

"Ay! An ye won't stop us here!" Brokkr added; with a scowl on his face the shapeshifter disappeared into the shadow, "I took care of the Lich, he won't be up again."

"Good, let's catch up with the others." Putting our weapons away we ran towards the stairs.

 **Lily**

Descending to the third floor I felt a cold chill make me shiver; this felt familiar…it must be him, coming to the end of the stairs at the end of it was a boy with blue hair and holding a whip.

"I'm not letting you get past me!" He said holding out his whip at us; we couldn't waste any time with him now…guess it was my best chance to help! I moved in front of the group as the sage did the same.

"W-We'll handle this guy! Y-You four k-keep going!"

"Lily-"

"D-Don't worry, I've got to do this…it's worth it for my friends who have protected me this far." With that they gave a nod and rushed past leaving me and the sage to take on Kraken…breath Lily...you have to do this!

"So she did stay, just like boss said." Where was that voice coming from?

"Yes, he has never led us astray before." Another voice, suddenly two figures walked out from behind Kraken revealing Denys and Penny the Gemini twins, "The traitor is within our grasp."

"Then let's grasp it brother." It was two on three now; as I backed up scared the sage put his arm on my shoulder.

"I shall handle the Kraken, you deal with those two."

"A-Are you sure? You're a healer though."

"You don't make it to my age without learning a few moves. I know enough martial arts to handle myself."

"O-Okay…j-just be careful."

"Same to you Lily." Splitting up I dashed forward and slashed down separating the twins and Kraken; pushing my blade I moved the Kraken over to the sage leaving me and the Gemini creatures.

"Seems you think you can take us yourself." Penny said pulling her javelin out.

"Not very smart considering our last encounter." Denys said pulling his cleaver out; I had to be careful, they excel at team work; Penny's javelin made her quicker while Denys's cleaver made him stronger, they balanced each other out so while one person defends against Penny's quick attacks Denys can make a strong blow without them noticing. I took my stance and Penny dashed at me swinging her javelin around trying to hit me with both ends as I blocked with my staff like hilt; keeping an eye on Denys was hard with how quickly she kept striking which meant I would have to feel him approaching me...oh no, I'm no good at that! Taking a quick glance backwards I saw Denys approaching as Penny's javelin struck me on the arm; moving quickly I swung my scythe down touching the end to the ground as I vaulted over them. Once my feet touched the ground I took a swing catching Penny and sending her flying against the wall; Denys reeled back for an attack but I swiftly swung my scythe around and thrusted with the staff end knocking him backwards. Looking at my arm I saw and intense red mark where I was hit; even a glance left me open to her attack, if that had been a stab it would have punctured and made it useless.

"Seems she's better than we gave her credit for."

"We're going to need to change our tactic then." With that Penny threw her javelin at me and as I dodged it I felt her slam into my back knocking me over and pinning me to the ground; using all my strength I tried to push her off but she had pinned my arms leaving me to only flail as Denys rushed forward. When he came close enough he raised his cleaver to take my head off; what do I do!?

"Why did you betray the boss, he would have given you what you wanted."

"…But not what I needed." I replied making her give a quizzical look, "I wanted my brother back but it wouldn't have helped me…when I met Soren and Alice my world began to change and I went from scared and desperate to strong and with something to protect now! Maybe I'm still meek and scared but I'll give everything I have to protect those I care about!"

"…Foolish girl…you can never protect what matters…no matter how hard you try." I can't reach my weapon and I have no way of defending myself…wait…it's my best bet right now! I wriggled my right arm free and pulled the glasses off my eyes holding them in front of the cleaver as it crashed down on them stopping as it clashed with the thin metal.

"What!?" With her shocked state I took my chance and kicked her off and rolled out of the way of the cleaver; guess I was right, these glasses were Sena's spare pair but her first pair didn't even looked scratched from the combat she faced, they had to be magically protected and lucky for me they were…I feel like I'm going to pass out now…no! Slipping them back on and noticing a small crack in the glass I dashed back and grabbed my scythe swinging it and cutting Denys arm with a deep cut; he won't be using that cleaver anymore, "You seem to be challenged brother."

"It would seem so sister…shall we switch?"

"We shall." What? Handing her javelin to Denys Penny took his cleaver wielding it just as well as Denys had; they were Gemini twins so of course they could use each other's weapon, Denys moved forward taking Penny's job and striking quickly as Penny built up her heavy attack. If I was going to survive any longer than I either needed to start dodging or go in the offensive; guess I could go on the offensive…maybe. With his next hit I blocked and swung my dull end of the scythe knocking him in his jaw making his onslaught stopped and I turned to see Penny jumping at me raising her cleaver and I felt time grind to a halt in that instant. My reflexes seemed to heighten in an instant…was this another ability of the reaper; as she slowly descended I reeled back and jumped at her swinging my scythe and landing back on the ground as she crashed to the floor with a large cut along her stomach and blood flowing from it.

"Did we lose sister?"

"No…we have…only been temporarily…stopped." With that she stood up and Denys grabbed her; they rushed away into the shadows leaving me and the sage alone; looking behind me I noticed the Kraken was gone now, looks like the sage took him out.

"I'm not a sage for nothing you know." He replied with a chuckle.

"Th-Thank you sir." I said giving him a bow, "Y-You showed that Kraken who's boss!"

"Well you lass I couldn't have done it without you keeping those two off my back so thank you."

"O-O-Oh it w-was n-nothing…r-r-really." I replied flustered by his comment; I was never going to get used to it…but I guess I wouldn't have to after this.

"What are you doing here?" We turned to see Gareth and Brokkr standing there with shocked looks on their faces.

"Gareth! You're okay!" I said relieved to see him safe at which he gave me a grin.

"Told you I wouldn't go down easily, especially with this guy backing me up." He gave Brokkr a noogie at which Brokkr pulled out and chuckled, "We took care of the Lich and the shapeshifter and followed to catch up."

"Shapeshifter!? Damien was here too?"

"What do you mean 'too'?"

"The Gemini Twins were with the Kraken."

"So he wasn't the only fiend?" With that thought a realization came over me; Soren, Alice, Wendy and Sarah just headed down and the other two fiends are probably there!

"We have to hurry and help the others!" I said and they all nodded in agreement as we rushed for the next stairs down.

 **Alice**

Bolting down the stairs the air began to feel hot and musky strangely enough; the area felt well insulated to keep the cold and hot at a constant temperature…which meant that another fiend was just below these stairs and the heat only meant one could be there. Reaching the end we all stopped seeing a girl with bright red hair like fire at the end of the hall; it was Marilith from the castle and fiend of fire, guess it was my turn.

"So-"

"Yeah we get it." I said stepping forward with Wendy on my shoulder, "You're here to stop us but guess what? I'm going to keep you busy while the others get moving." Before Soren could say anything I put a finger to his lips, "I know you're going to try to convince me to let you help but I want you to keep moving and if you don't I'm going to hit you so hard you forget your own name…got it?" He gave a small laugh and smiled as he and Sarah started to move.

"You know me to well Alice." He said that as he ran passed Marilith leaving me and Wendy to deal with the fiend of fire.

"I guess that makes two of us." That voice! Suddenly I heard the sound of metal dragging along the ground and out of the corner of the room stood Jarek holding a great sword; his hair was now shorter and groomed and he no longer wore Soren's signature black coat. He just wore a t-shirt, jeans and fingerless gloves as he lugged the great sword over his shoulders, "Alice it's good to see you. It seems you've been picking up the shattered remains of Soren." He gave a chuckle and I gripped my katana in anger, "A pointless goal. You think if you keep picking him up you can't lose him? Well no matter how much you pick him up he'll keep going into the fight. Do you know why?" Of course I knew why.

"…He's doing it to protect us."

"That's right. He keeps fighting and fighting and fighting…all to protect his friends…which means he's going to throw himself in dangerous situation after situation. You can't save him forever."

"Geez…you're more of an idiot than Soren." He gave me a quizzical look as a smiled, "You've been with Soren for two adventures and half of this one and you forget one critical thing he has that will make sure he can always come back…us. It may sound cheesy but it's the truth; it isn't just us backing him up though, we're actually going to stand by and fight with him so he's never fighting alone! We'll all protect each other which means in order to protect Soren, Gareth and Lily I won't let you win!"

"…I'm getting sick of you…not only did you stop me two separate times but now you stand in my way and even after all the turmoil and strife Soren has caused, everything he's done and every tiem he's hurt you, you still STAND BY HIM!?"

"You hurt me…not him." He gave a loud scream and charged at me as I gave my blade an earth attribute blocking his heavy attack; with his attack strength I skid back from the force feeling my arms sting slightly, "Wendy I know you're a fairy but do you think you can handle Marilith?"

"She won't know what hit her!" Wendy said flying off to face the fire fiend leaving me to take Jarek. He charged again and swung down as I slid to the side and went for a strike as he moved the hilt in his hand catching my blow on it; with a quick push I stumbled back and he swung under my legs sending me to the ground.

"I don't understand if you wanted to break Soren why are you facing me?" As he stabbed at my face I rolled to the side and slashed sending a fire wave at him at which he jumped over it.

"Even if I were to pound him to dust you would just bring him back up. Owen noticed that nice little fact; no matter how many pieces we take off of him you keep bringing them back together; so to take out the lead thorn we have to take you out!" He pointed his blade at me and a small ball of fire formed from the tip; moving quickly I switched my blade to ice and as the fireball collided with the ice they dissipated.

"But- Soren couldn't use magic that strong."

"Who do you think made it that way?"

"You blocked his magic channel?"

"And made my magic all the more powerful. Think you can still take me?" I rushed at him taking swing after swing as he dodged and blocked with ease; it was like he knew each and every technique I had up my sleeve, suddenly I felt a punch to my gut and stopped my assault grabbing my stomach as he reeled back to slash. Ducking down I rolled backwards standing up at the end of it, "I've lived in Soren's body for months watching every technique he and his friends had. Out of everyone in the group though he knows your techniques the most." Damn it…we've been together for three adventures of course Soren knew ever singe technique I had…just like I knew his…and Jareks! Stepping forward I took my defensive stance and he charged forward going for an overhead strike; stepping to the right he took note and quickly swerved to hit my new point…just like I knew he would! Taking a second slide right at the last second the great sword crashed into the ground leaving cracks along the pavement as I swung up catching his chest and upper arm in my attack, "Hng- how the hell?"

"You may be another personality but you've been in Soren's body for years which means the only technique you know is ones Soren has used. The only difference is that they're slower and since I know every one of Soren's moves then all I have to do is adjust my plans."

"Even if the only difference is speed that's still something big to get used to."

"Try me." Changing my blade to wind I jumped and swung down gaining some extra air; facing down I changed to ice and took a swing spraying an area of icicles over Jarek as he blocked with his blade. Suddenly there was a mist and as I fell back down a ball of fire came up hitting me in the left arm, "AH!" Falling down with a crash I slowly got up and when the mist cleared Jarek stood there with a malicious anger in his eyes.

"YOU IGNORANT GIRL!" He swung as I blocked knocking my blade out of my hand, "I'M BETTER THAN THAT FOOL, BETTER THAN ANY OF YOUR STUPID FRIENDS!" Taking another swing he sliced me across the left eye blinding that eye and sending me to the ground, "AND BETTER THAN YOU!" As I looked at him with my left eye my vision was slightly blurred as he raised his blade to thrust into my body. Suddenly a blinding blast of fire shot at Jarek consuming him and as he screamed and put up an ice wall I grabbed my katana and with what vision I had aimed for his chest as I cut across his ribcage making a spray of blood burst, "Agh! Hng…this…isn't…over!" As he stumbled away I tried to stand back up but fell feeling my head swirl as my vision was now cut in half; with a blink he disappeared and I looked over to see who had saved me to find Wendy floating there.

"W-Wendy? H-How…how did you?" I stammered through feeling the blood loss from my eye begin to make me woozy.

"Let's get that fixed up first." Wendy said getting closer and then disappearing behind my left eyes vision, "Full-Life!" Suddenly I felt an intense light surround me and all of my injuries and wound disappeared; even my left eye healed revealing the fairy within its sight, "Not even a scar left, sweet!"

"…You just used a level 8 spell without any problem. How did you do that?" I asked amazed; the last time someone used a level eight spell was when Hana used Flare and…that didn't end well.

"Fairies are magical creatures, with our magical strength we can pull off the most powerful of spells with ease." She answered, "I even took out Marilith without a problem thanks to the Flare spell which I used on him but…he seemed to take it just fine."

"Yeah…he's not easy to take out." I replied standing up; hearing footsteps behind me I turned to see the others catching up to me.

"Oh good, Alice is safe." Gareth said sighing in relief.

"W-We were worried that you might face a-another fiend." Lily said.

"Well we did…and Jarek." Gareth and Lily gave a look of surprise.

"You f-faced Jarek?"

"Yeah…he's more dangerous when he's angry."

"Like the hulk?" Gareth asked and I rolled my eyes.

"Let's hurry guys; Soren went on ahead with Sarah so we should catch up with them quickly." Sheathing my blade I led the group as we ran towards the stairs that went towards the bottom.

 **Soren**

With Sarah following behind I moved down the stairs but as I descended I didn't feel a weird vibe around me like I did when we descended the last few stairs; I knew who would be at the end of this though…and if they're hiding their aura then…

"Sarah, grab my hand." As I extended my hand to her she gave me a quizzical look and the turned red.

"A-Are you c-courting me Soren?"

"What? No. Trust me on this." I grabbed her hand and picked her up bridal style; coming to the end of the stairs I leapt out of the door way and looked up to see a guillotine crash down, so he tried that again. Putting Sarah down I cut the rope connecting the guillotine to the ceiling and kicked it to the side out of the door way; hearing a sarcastic clap I turned to see a green haired boy standing there; Tiamat.

"Don't fall for the same tricks twice do you? That's fine it makes it more fun for me." I drew my blades as Sarah pulled out her rapier taking up proper stance, "Are you just going to stay on the roof or are you going to help out?" Looking up I saw two giant batwings fly down from the ceiling; when it touched the ground they opened up revealing the succubus…Sukia standing there with a serious look on her face.

"Sukia…" I stepped forward to approach her but she quickly snapped her whip at my feet stopping me in my tracks.

"I told you before Soren, I won't betray Owen…that means that I have to get rid of you!" She gave me an intense glare telling me she was deathly serious; I guess some people will fight to the end for what they want…that goes the same for me!

"Sarah I need you to take care of Tiamat for me…do you think you can do that?" She swung her rapier around at blinding speed with a smug look on her face.

"I'd feel insulted if someone could match my speed. I'll keep him, it seems like this is something personal."

"It kind of is…sorry."

"It's okay; it's personal for me to." Separating I turned back to Sukia who was still giving me the intense glare; I rushed forward as she snapped her whip trying to catch my feet or arms as I zigzagged not wanting to get caught like Gareth did, once I was close enough I jabbed the hilt into her stomach making her stumble slightly and as I swung with my other blade aiming for her arm; stretching her wings at me I fell backwards and quickly rolled back onto my feet as she extended her nails. She flew forward and swung down as I blocked with my right blade and went in for an upper swing at which she flew up dodging it and as she charged down nails ready to puncture me I rolled to the side as they stuck into the ground.

"Why do you keep fighting like this? You really think you can save your friends who died or even the friends you have now?"

"What do you mean?"

"You heard from the sage yourself, realities upon realities exist, universes don't reset because the past was changed you can't bring them back!" Removing her nails she thrusted forward too quick for me to dodge and puncturing my left arm as I skid back; the blood poured from the wound and I pulled out a potion pouring it over the wound…that stings, "And your just causing more problems for your friends now." What was she talking about?

"I came this far to help them."

"And you've only made more issues! Not only have your friends been pulled into world after world because of you but you've made even worse problems for them!" Taking a swing forward she back flipped and I thrusted forward forcing her to block with her wings and I cut along them causing her to shriek in pain, "Alice is totally dependent on you, she can't handle her own problems and you continue to be her support making her weaker." Retracting her wings she came at me again swinging her hands wildly trying to catch me as I ducked and weaved trying to avoid each hit with a few marks on my face and arms, "Gareth sees you and the others as not only friends but family. When you finally drift apart you'll end up making him broken and weaker than before." As she took a wide swipe I ducked rolling backwards and felt something coil around my foot; looking down I saw her tail and was dragged towards her and spun, when she let go I was slammed against a wall and felt my spine slightly crack, "And Lily, you heard her story and yet you treat her like a friend? You give her hope for the future…but there is no hope for her, when she gets back she will die!" She picked me up with her tail again and proceeded to slam me against the ground, "AND" again, "THERE" again, "IS" again, "NOTHING" again, "YOU" again, "CAN" and again, "DO!" She let go leaving me in a bruised and battered state as she panted and wheezed from her outburst; I did the same but from the feeling of my body ready to quit…but not yet. Grabbing a phoenix down I chugged it and a hi-potion feeling my body slowly try to recover as I stood up grabbing my blades.

"You're wrong." I said and she gave me a wild look of anger, "I refuse to believe I'm weakening my friends!"

"Delusional."

"The truth!" I yelled startling her slightly as she launched her tail at me; sheathing my blade and grabbing it quickly I muttered a short strength boost spell and swung her by her tail into the ceiling, "I will not stop standing by Alice in her time of need; I will be there to help her whether she wants it or not and we will both become stronger from the experience!" As she fell back down I sheathed my other blade and spun around giving her a roundhouse kick sending her to the ground, "Gareth won't ever feel alone or without a family because he IS family. I refuse to just let us drift apart after all we've been through and I'll do everything I can to keep us all together!" As she stood up and took shaky steps towards me I grabbed her pushing her against the wall and plunging my blade into the stone right next to her face, "And that means I'm going to save Lily, she won't die when she gets back, I'm going to make sure of it! So I know for a fact that the four of us together is the best thing that could happen and I refuse to doubt that ever again!"

"You still can't erase your past mistakes."

"…I know…but I refuse to sit back if I can protect the future. I won't let the fiends or Owen destroy any more worlds. If I can stop it then you better believe that's what I'm going to do!" With those final words I stepped back sheathing my blade again as she slumped to the floor; she didn't have the strength to keep fighting.

"…You know we won't give up…right?"

"I know…and neither will I." With that she slumped away dragging her foot into the shadow; as she crossed the threshold I felt her aura disappear from the area.

"Um…well that was…interesting." I turned to see the rest of the group standing there with Gareth and Alice with light blushes on their faces and Lily with a look of shock on here, "Whether I want it or not…you really are an idiot…but thanks."

"Of course Alice, you know me."

"I know…but you're still an idiot…but I guess that makes you my idiot."

"Stay together huh?" Gareth said with a half-smile.

"To the grave and beyond man."

"Hahahaha! Works for me!"

"S-Soren…y-y-you r-r-really mean it?"

"Lily I refuse to let you end up dead; if you've become a better person and overcome your weakness then you deserve the second chance you were promised. Even more important is that you're my friend and as long as you're alive I refuse to just stand by as you accept it. Even if you were fated to die I'm not going to let fate have its way, so I promise that I will save you!"

"Hey don't think you're going in alone!" Gareth yelled at me, "I'm not going to let that happen either."

"Ditto." Alice added, "If I have to I'll risk my health to save you Lily." As we all looked at her she tiered up and threw herself at us hugging all of us tightly.

"I…I don't want to die…I want to live." Putting my hand on her head I rubbed her red hair softly.

"And you won't…I promise."

With the four fiends out of the way we rushed to the final four and dashed to the center determined to end this quest; slamming the door open I looked at the end to see Owen and…Garland!?

"So you made it…I didn't expect them to win but I thought at least they would slow you down." Owen said chuckling, "No matter, we are almost done anyway; once the crystals are linked with the fiends we will be finished."

"Sorry but your fiends are history…or I guess they aren't a part of history anymore." Gareth said sounding snarky.

"Without your fiends you have no control over the crystals!" Alice exclaimed pulling her katana out, "All that's left is you."

"You think we need the fiends alive to complete this?" I don't like the sound of that.

"What do you mean?" I asked slightly worried.

"When you link a dead body to an object then as long as that object lives so does the person. The only difference is a loss of control. Thanks to you we can now control the fiends with ease in the next world!" So we played right into their hands…again, "I don't even know why you came this far after losing the WOLs without them you can't stop us."

"Hey! Don't use my acronym!"

"It doesn't matter anyway; they were the only ones who could stop the god of chaos…you already failed…you should have just laid back and died in the world you doomed before!"

"B-But you don't have the god of chaos with you!" Lily said looking around with a scared look on her face.

"I guess this is where I step in." Garland stepped forward standing in front of us.

"Garland?" Sarah said confused, "But they killed you."

"Ay everyone heard about that. Ye shouldn't be alive." Brokkr added.

"Garland…so you were the vessel." The sage said his gaze becoming grimmer, "Every iteration of worlds and you were the one who absorbed the power of the four crystals in each universe."

"G-Garland? H-He's appeared in the pool of visions various times but we never knew why." Wendy said shaking slightly.

"Pool of visions?" I asked.

"A sacred pool that gives a glimpse into future tragedy; when Garland was killed we assumed it had been dealt with."

"Well you were wrong." Garland said interrupting our group chat, "For so long I have absorbed the power of the crystals multiple times in order to become stronger; this is not the first world in which has been ravaged for its power. With the help of this man I will become the most powerful being capable of dominating everything." Pulling my blades out I took a dash forward and sliced at Garland causing a large gash across his armored chest that bled openly; he must have some weak armor.

"We're not letting it happen!" I said and Owen chuckled.

"You seem determined…let's see how determined you are when you're stuck in another universe!" Raising his hand to the sky the ground began to shake and a bright light exploded from Owen's hand blinding all of us.

As the light died the room around had disappeared and was replaced with empty red space as far as the eye could see; the ground below us was still the same but we definitely weren't in the same world anymore…if we were in a world at all.

"This is the space between dimensions; an ideal place to show how powerful the go of chaos is and if you die it will be like you never existed." Chuckling loudly Garland began to twitch as his body expanded growing larger and larger every time until we were small animals compared to him; his body continuously morphed and changed retaining the same shape but not color or aura. There was no way to figure him out; he was the god of chaos in name and form. We stood there trembling slightly in fear at him; pushing that fear aside Gareth, Sarah, Brokkr and I dashed to strike at his leg but as I took a swing his body seemed to morph around the blade making it pass through him without hitting him, when I went in for a second swing the same thing happen and again on the third, fourth and fifth strike. We couldn't hit him with physical attacks at all. Alice and Lily cast various spells at him but they all seem to dissipate upon contact with him; nothing was working, "You see? the god of chaos can't be touched by your attacks; you can't win!" He swung his arm at us knocking us all backwards; as I tried to get up I felt my body resist me as it went mostly numb, even his most basic attacks were way too strong for us to take…damn it…we failed still. As I thought that Sarah, Brokkr, Wendy and the sage all stood up shakily with a determined look on their faces.

"I…will protect my father…and all our subjects in other worlds from you! I don't…want to watch…them die again!" Sarah exclaimed.

"I still…got blacksmithing to do…for those who…need armor…and weapons…I won't let you take another world…without a fight!" Brokkr said raising Excalibur.

"The fairies…protected me…and I won't…let their sacrifice…go in vein…I will protect those in the next world…because the people in this world gave me a chance!" Wendy exclaimed charging up her magic.

"I've seen the future…hundreds of time…now I have a chance…to change it…instead of just watch…and I'm going to make sure the prediction I see comes true!" The sage yelled casting a large healing spell over the entire group. Standing up I felt invigorated by their proclamation; they had a reason to fight for the future, they wanted to make a brighter tomorrow. Suddenly the bag of orbs began to glow each with the color of its respective crystal…so that's how it works…looks like we still had a chance!

"Sorry Chaos but you think just because you took care of the WOLs that you won. Well you're wrong!" He laughed as I gave a confident stare, "The Warriors of Light aren't some preordained group of heroes all born to save the world; the Warriors of Light are any group of people willing to fight to the end for their world and even if not their world then for a better future, their light is their courage to fight for what matters. Sarah, Brokkr, Wendy and Sage all fight for a better tomorrow…so as far as I see it they are the Warriors of Light!" He gave me a quizzical look and Owen gave a grimace, "But let's get a second opinion on this!" Throwing the orbs at the group of four they all held them up; as they held them a bright light shinned from all of the orbs that seemed to scare Chaos and make Owen worried. When the light died we were back in the Chaos Shrine's fifth bottom floor to the surprise of everyone including Owen and…Garland, stripped of his power.

"NO! My power is gone!" Garland exclaimed in anger.

"I think it's time we got out of here." Owen said raising his hand again but as it was raised nothing happened shocking him, "My dimension hopping powers have been blocked!? The crystals affected my power!?"

"There may be no difference between each world but you still have to play by this world's rules Owen." I said giving him a confident grin and he gave me an angry look.

"My name?…SOREN!" As he rushed at me with the Master Sword I felt Alice, Gareth and Lily all gather with me; Alice gave my blade a powerful light enchantment as Gareth switched my focus to power and Lily sharpened my focus somehow, as he came closer I muttered a small strength boost spell and swung clashing blades with him. As we both pushed I felt him push me back slowly and his presence begin to overwhelm me; no, I won't let him; taking a proud stomp forward I put all my strength into pushing him back and as I gave one final push I saw a small crack form on the master sword and took the opportunity swinging with all my strength breaking the blade into two and knocking him backwards into the far wall, "…You…broke the Master Sword." He stood there in mild shock and then dashed past us and out the doorway; looks like the Master Sword wasn't the only thing I broke.

"I cannot lose here!" Garland shouting picking up the shattered end of the blade, "I will become a god and you cannot stop me!" With a dash forward Sarah lunged stabbing directly into his heart making him cough slightly before going completely limp.

"That's for kidnapping me! Hmph!"

As we came back to the present the world was green and vibrant; monsters were no longer plaguing the world and no one had even heard about the four fiends, we had succeeded in saving this world from a grim future. After a bit of asking around we even heard the Kent, Hana, Pent and Sena lived in their peaceful village living simple lives; the peace they fought for would never be forgotten by us though.

"So this is the world we live in now…what should we do?" Sarah asked.

"Ay, I can't exactly go back to my forge, with two of me there it'll be strange." Brokkr said.

"Same for me." Wendy said sitting on Sarah's shoulder kicking her feet.

"In this new world we are out of place. We do not belong." The sage said…but he was wrong.

"You four fought to protect this world from turmoil. Even with Chaos gone it doesn't mean the world is instantly fixed forever." They gave me a confused look.

"All kinds of problems are going to arise in this world; how about working to make sure that the problems don't become world ending like last time." Alice explained.

"Yeah! You guys are the only WOLs in the whole universe! It's your job to be heroes!" Gareth said wrapping his hands around each of them.

"T-Technically s-speaking they're the only Warriors of Light i-in the m-multiverse." Lily added pushing her glasses back up, "B-But every world n-needs heroes…if you're up for it." They all looked at each other giving a nod.

"If it's a world you love then it's worth protecting." I said.

"Then that's exactly what we'll do." Sarah replied, "Because this place is definitely worth protecting…thank you four…for everything you've done. For saving me."

"And me." Wendy added.

"For bringing me the rare metal." Brokkr said holding Excalibur proudly.

"For saving an old man like me and showing me a future I'd never see through visions." The sage said and they all gave a bow.

"And for saving our world."

"Nope." I said shocking everyone, "You saved this world, we were just support." They all chuckled as did the others at what I said, joining in I felt a sensation begin to cover my body; looking down I saw my body begin to fade as well as Gareth, Lily and Alice's body; I guess we were done, "Looks like we've got to go. See you guys!" I gave a wave to them which they returned.

"We will never forget you!" Sarah said and with that my vision turned white as I left the world in good hands.

When my vision returned I looked around shocked to see a giant white room that looked endless; around me stood my friends who all looked equally confused.

"I don't think this is home." Gareth said looking around.

"No, it isn't" A voice said casually and I turned to see a girl about our age with long bright green hair and innocent eyes wearing a long white dress sitting in a chair backwards, "But I believe I owed you some answers."


	21. Chapter 21

"I believe I owe you some answers." A girl with green hair sat in front of us in a clear white empty room; she sounded exactly like the voice that followed us throughout my first adventure and the voice that introduced us to our second and first adventure. After all this time it's weird to think we were standing in front of the person who was our guide into familiar worlds; now was our chance to get all of our questions answered.

"So you're the girl who controls us?" Gareth asked.

"Well…I don't control you…just…I guess the best way to put it is I shepherded you into these worlds."

"So we're sheep."

"Gareth she means that she transported us to these worlds." Lily explained.

"So what should we call you?" Alice asked and the girl seemed to go into deep thought for a minute.

"Well I don't really have a name but…how about Mary?"

"Mary?"

"Is something wrong with that name?"

"No just…kind of random."

"Well I like it." Mary said proudly, "Now I know you guys have a lot of questions so I want each of you to ask one question at a time. Who wants to start?"

"I will." I said stepping forward, "I'll ask a simple one to start. What are you?"

"In your world I'd be known as a god…but in truth I'm just a being of a higher plane of existence."

"That's what a god is." Alice said.

"Well gods are immortal, I don't age but I can still die just like humans."

"So what does that make you?" I asked again.

"Well…hmm…that's a good question."...Seriously?

"Well then I guess I'll ask next." Alice said, "What are travelers?"

"Travelers are what you guys are."

"I mean what are travelers described as?"

"Travelers…are people who I've chosen to be taken to another world in order to resolve its problem."

"How do you choose who you send?" Gareth asked.

"Well I use to send the strongest people I could find…but I ran into the problem of it didn't make them any better as people…I felt bad for using them like that. So I decided to send those who needed to become stronger."

"What do you mean?"

"All of you were sent to another world for separate reasons. Lily was sent because of her dependence on others and her weak will; she refused to let others beside her family in because she thought her voice wasn't needed and was broken for it."

"The sound of my voice was gone from my ears." Lily added.

"Gareth was sent because he saw himself as a hero and thought he was better than everyone else; he didn't believe anyone else was worth his attention because others didn't see him as anything so he did the same to them."

"The sight of others was missing." Gareth added.

"Alice saw the world around her as boring and not worth her time; because of what happened to her she found herself doubting her world and those who lived in it, the wonder of the world fell away."

"The scent was absent." Alice added; all three of them looked down sadly as they remembered their pasts.

"…What about me?" I asked scared to hear her reason, "Why did you choose me."

"Soren, you…were an interesting case."

"W-What do you mean?" Lily asked.

"As you all found out, Soren was split between two personalities; there's Soren, a boy who tries to act as the strong pillar that those he cares about can rely on and trust; then there was Jarek; the embodiment of your anger and frustration as those who have abused and used him. You not only closed your fears and problems to the world…but you closed off your true past and lived in an illusion because you couldn't handle the truth."

"To find out I killed both my sister and my dad in cold blood. It still hurts…and to think I completely closed it off for so long…but because of Alice I now know that even if I'm unsure of who I am my friends will be able to reassure me of who I am." I turned to my friends to see Gareth giving me a grin, Lily giving me a nod while Alice looked away while twirling a strand of hair between her fingers…weird.

"That's right." Mary said, "Honestly when I first chose you to go to another world I was worried. Worried that Jarek would surface…and when Owen saw it he would use it against you…and I would fail again…but thanks to Alice you've made it this far…and all four of you have made me proud. Soren, you have stood tall against Owen and protected each of your friends from their own destruction; by doing this you have stopped his recruiting plot twice and even pulled somebody back from his side. Alice, you have stood by your friends since you met Soren; you've trusted in their judgment and protected them when they were in danger, even when the world turned against them you never lost your faith in those you had come to trust. Gareth, you have been the beacon of positivity in the face of strife; when others were in despair over the situation you have always found a way to make others feel better, whether it's through a sparring match or just simple conversation you always tried to make others feel better. Lily, I owe you an apology, I have caused you much strife by pulling you in so quickly; I gave the other three a choice…but you were forced. Yet you have risen above it, you let go of your past and saw something worth protecting…and that's exactly what you have done. You have used your knowledge and experience to protect your new friends and realized that there's more to fight for then to rewrite your mistakes of the past."…Owen.

"Who is Owen?" I asked and Mary had a pained look on her face.

"Owen…was my first mistake. Owen was chosen back when I needed the best candidates the Earth had to offer…I didn't mean to drag in Nina though. When I took Owen in he was saving Nina and they were both transported."

"So Nina was never supposed to be chosen?" Alice asked and Mary gave a nod.

"I couldn't remedy that problem until the adventure was over so I let her be. I was honestly surprised by how well she was doing; she seemed weak when it began but…something happened."

"W-What?" Lily asked.

"She seemed distant but with time she opened up and shared herself with Owen, Sukia, Shifty and the Gemini twins. Eventually she came to terms with her strife…and it was amazing; she became much more powerful than before. Thanks to her I learned that those capable of overcoming their personal problems can become more powerful than any I've recruited in the past."

"…So what happened?" Gareth asked.

"…Through her power and resolve she and Owen became close…and near the end of the adventure she gave her life for Owen…and it hurt, it hurt me, Shifty, Sukia and the Gemini twins. Out of everyone though it completely destroyed Owen; he screamed with everything he had and suddenly he seemed to change."

"Change?"

"He became stronger than ever before…and destroyed the world around him turning everything to ash and dust."

"WHAT!?" We all gave a shocked response; we were told that the world was gone…but Owen took it out? How powerful did he become!?

"It was the rage in his soul that pushed him to destroy everything around him…except his friends."

"So that's how they survived." Alice said.

"But that wasn't it…with Nina gone he now only had one goal…bring her back. He was determined to do this by any means possible and with that determination he was able to tap into the powers every traveler is given."

"What powers?" I asked.

"Travelers are handpicked by me. They are given the ability to travel to other worlds as well as maintain the knowledge and experience they gained while there. That's why even when you went home you had the strength, skill and speed you had gained in the previous worlds, but there's something more travelers are able to do. You've all seen it, Lily has even seen Owen preform it…it's how he's been able to follow you across multiple worlds."…!

"He can cross dimensions on his own." I said feeling the realization move over me; Mary gave me a sad nod.

"Even now you four have only been able to cross to other worlds by another's help. Owen has the ability to move from world to world on his own. That's how he was able to recruit so many in such a short time."

"So he was the last person you sent based on strength?" I asked.

"Correct. Now I send them based on if they need to become stronger. Some don't and so their lives are untouched but some do…and that's why you four stand here now."

"But I'm guessing we aren't the first to be chosen that way…right?" Alice asked.

"…There were…many others before you guys. Thousands…too many to count…they all fell for Owens deal; they joined him for different reasons but…they all joined…I've lost so many to Owen."

"S-So why d-did you keep trying?" Lily asked.

"…My job is to remedy the problems each world faces; some worlds manage fine on their own…but some need help, I was given the power to send people from one world to the next…some were more than eager and some completely ignored it…then I found Earth, there were many different versions of Earth but they all held something very similar…hope. Earth was abundant in people brimming with hope and so I started using people from Earth; they came through amazingly and I knew that if I was going to find anything I needed on Earth. When Owen started taking worlds apart I sent others to stop him…but they all fell into his trap…the trap I had put them near; Owen had expected that of me and I had fallen for it…but I couldn't give up. So I kept sending travelers in hopes that one of them would be able to stop him; I even sent them in pairs in order to keep them even more protected…but it never worked…until Soren and Alice appeared." She pointed to the two of us, "You two showed incredible resilience in the face of danger and the willingness to protect each other. You two were the first in a long time to actually save a world from the danger Owen put it in."

"Is that why you sent us to the Mushroom Kingdom?" I asked.

"Yes, I knew you two would be able to save the world…and save another traveler." She motioned to Gareth.

"…Hang on a minute." Alice said in thought, "There was no traveler in the land of Final Fantasy. Why did you send us there?"

"…First I would like to apologize…it was a gamble."

"A gamble?"

"Yes, I sent you there knowing that Owen would show up…and so would Lily. I saw the hesitation that Soren, Alice and Gareth had made her exhibit and realized she could be saved…I was glad to be right in the end. Thanks to you four another world was saved…and so was Lily."…It's been a long adventure…

"Alright, I only have two questions left…do you guys have anything to ask?" I turned to my friends and they all thought for a minute before shaking their heads, "First, how does time work when we travel to different dimensions?"

"Time moves along the same the same spectrum for all dimensions. All I do is put you into a certain time within that dimensions…it's how Owen's long term plans are accomplished and how I'm able to place you back where you were before you left."

"So as a traveler you can hop to dimensions and different times in those dimensions?" Alice asked and she gave a nod.

"And my last question…what is Owen's goal?"

"…He's trying to become a god."

"A god?"

"I don't know how he's going to do it but he's trying to become a god…he wants to bring Nina back but I don't know what becoming a god will do for him." So he's trying to become a god…but we don't know how…and we don't know why…back to square one.

"Actually I have a question." Gareth said making all of us turn our attention to him, "With the thousands of travelers that have been chosen how do you make them come back to Earth like nothing happened?"

"Well…that's not how it works. Every time I lose a traveler I choose another dimensional Earth to get travelers from…so far I haven't had to choose another dimension since I got Soren and Alice."…

"Hold on!" I shouted surprising Mary and the others, "That would mean…Lily-"

"Is from another dimension." Alice said in surprise; we all turned to Lily who gave us a patient smile, "You knew all along didn't you?"

"…Sorry guys…I know you want to help me but…it seems this is as far as we go together." No, I said I would save her-

"If that's all the questions you have to ask…then I'll send you all back." Mary said and Lily started to fade away.

"Thank you guys…for everything." With those words she was gone…Lily…!

"Mary! When did you send Lily to Wonderland? I need the date, time and year!" I said in haste.

"What are you doing?" Gareth asked.

"We're going to save Lily." I said confidently making everyone gasp.

"How are you going to do that?" Alice asked.

"Multidimensional travel." I answered making Alice raise her eyebrow, "Mary, I need you to send us back to the date Lily was taken to Wonderland five minutes before she was transported."

"Soren…looks like I was right to choose you." With those final words my vision faded to white.

When my vision returned I was standing outside the library I met Lily at; beside me were Gareth and Alice who were dressed in simple clothing, we didn't have our weapons but I was going to be damned if that was going to stop me!

"Come on guys! We have to hurry!" They both nodded and I rushed down the path I had gone with Lily when I walked her home; coming upon the house I recognized it as the one Lily walked into and I heard various crashing and smashing sounds that made my heart race with worry, "Alice call the police now!" I rushed into the house and opened the door to see a man about to thrust into Lily with a kitchen knife as she clutched a man's' body; I bolted forward knocking into the man and sending him into the dinner table breaking it; I turned to Lily who looked up in surprise, I looked all over her body to see she didn't have a mark on her; good, she was okay.

"You okay?" I asked stretching out my hand to her and she gave a nod; she looked like she wanted to say something but before she could I heard another crash and looked to see Gareth had pinned the man down to the ground.

"Soren get her out of here!" Gareth shouted and I gave a nod grabbing Lily's hand and took her out of the house; I scanned around for Alice to see she was at a nearby payphone, I moved over and she hung up looking at me.

"Any luck?" I asked and she gave a nod.

"They'll be here in a few minutes." She replied and I let go of Lily's hand.

"I'll go help Gareth! You keep Lily safe."

"Got it…be careful Soren." Giving her a confident nod I rushed back in to see Gareth struggling with the man and looked around to see a nearby chair; picking it up I moved forward, "Gareth move!" He looked back and rolled off as I swung down hitting the man on the head; he gave a cry of pain and dropped the kitchen knife, Gareth swooped in and picked it up as I grabbed a nearby rope that was strangely in a nearby box and moved behind the man; I grabbed his hands and worked quickly to tie up his hands behind his back as he was still preoccupied with the pain. When he came back to his senses he began to flail for a few minutes before slumping to the ground in defeat; taking the opportunity I motioned to Gareth who grabbed another set of ropes and tied up his legs so he couldn't move at all, we backed up from him after that and he just sat there for a minute…and then began to speak.

"Lissa…I can't go on without you…it hurts to see your face."

"…Is that why you killed your son?" Gareth asked and he looked up at us.

"…Do you know how it feels to be too late…to lose someone because of your weakness?"

"…Yes." I answered standing up, "I've made mistakes I can never remedy…but if we don't move on from our mistakes then who are we helping…it just shows our selfishness. You can cry and scream…I encourage that you scream and cry…but when you finally stop crying then you've got to stand up and move on. Become a stronger person for those you still have…because if you don't you'll make even more mistakes that you can't take back." I motioned to the left at the man's body and his eyes went wide before he began to sob; suddenly I heard sirens sound and looked out to see police start to show up; Gareth and I grabbed the man and pulled him outside as the police approached the house, Alice, Gareth and I explained the situation to the cops and handed them the man who walked quietly to the cop car with handcuffs.

"So you three heard the dispute and engaged the enraged man?"

"Yes sir I responded."

"While I appreciate the heroics of your actions I must inform you to be more careful next time. You could have put yourselves in serious danger."

"Are you an idiot!?" Alice yelled, "He was about to kill Lily! If Soren hadn't stopped him right there and then she would have been dead!"

"Ma'am please lower your voice. Although I do agree with you…without your help she would have been dead…too bad I can't say the same about her brother." The cop replied and I looked over to see a few men with a body bag leaving the house, "What will we do with the girl?"

"Leave her with us; we know a few of her relatives so we'll get her to them."

"As kind as that is I can't leave her with children." Damn it…We're only 17…we can't anything in this situation.

"What about me?" We looked behind us to see a tall gorgeous woman in brown hair and a business suite approach us, "My name is Mary Tesit, I'm her aunt." She pulled out an I.D. and showed it to the policeman who handed it back and gave a tip of his cap before walking away.

"Who are you?" Gareth asked and she gave a giggle.

"Already forgot me Gareth?"

"Mary…Mary!?" I said in surprise and she gave another giggle.

"What are you doing here?" Alice asked.

"I felt I should help you in this situation."

"Thanks." I said and she nodded.

"So what's your plan?" She asked.

"It's still about three months before we meet Lily in Final Fantasy so if she can hold out for a few months then I can have her stay at my place instead of being shipped off to some other state by social services."

"Why do you think that?" Alice asked.

"By the looks of the place and the state of the family from what she told us I'm guessing she doesn't have any other family in the state." I answered.

"Um…excuse me." I turned around to see Lily standing there, "Thank you…all of you…for saving me…I didn't expect you guys to be able to save me…but you surprised me."

"And me." Mary added, "Unfortunately I'm going to have to send you guys back to your time."

"Lily can I see your journal?" She handed the book to me confused and I flipped to a blank page quickly scrawling a date onto it as well as the address for the hospital and room number, "Lily I know I'm asking a lot but I want you to wait until this date, on this date I want you to go to this address and then come up to this room, we'll be waiting for you…can you wait till then." She gave a nod with a smile.

"To see you guys again…I'll wait for as long as I need to." Good.

"Then we'll see you again." I gave a wave as my vision slowly faded to white.

"Good job Soren…it's not easy to impress a higher being."

When I opened my eyes I was back in Alice's hospital room; Alice had just opened her eyes and so did Gareth we all looked around glad to be back; I looked at the door expecting Lily to open it and walk in.

"…"

"Soren you have to give it a minute." Gareth said with a chuckle.

"I know but…I really want her to show up…I hope she can survive three months on her own." As I began to worry I felt a hand touch mine and looked to see Alice hand grabbed my hand.

"Don't worry Soren, she's made it this far…we all have…she can do it." Right.

"You know it's kind of weird to think that she's was our enemy at one point and now she's one of our best friends." Gareth said in deep thought.

"Yeah well…she's not that bad so we let it slide."

"That's not how I remember it." I said and she knocked me over the head.

"Shut it! You know what I mean!"

"I know." I replied with a chuckle as I rubbed where she hit me, "Everyone has a reason for what they do…she just found a cause worth more than her previous cause."

"What do you mean?" Gareth asked.

"Before, she fought to bring her brother back…but then she realized that protecting his ideals was more important than that. She came to terms with that fact that her brother was dead and worked to uphold his ideals; she even found people worth protecting by doing that. Just like Alice let go of her hate of her life here and just like you realized that there's more to the world than just you."

"And just like you realized that you don't have to do everything on your own. You have people willing to stand by you, to help and to…listen." Alice added.

"Right." I replied. Suddenly the handle turned and when it opened we were all glad to see Lily standing there; as she looked at us she began to tear up with a smile on her face, we pulled her over and she sat on Alice's bed as she dried her tears.

"I'm sorry but…I'm just so happy to see you guys again after so long…it's a bit overwhelming is all." She replied hiccupping slightly with a smile.

"That's okay." I replied rubbing her head, "Alice did the same thing." Alice gave me a quick punch in the arm.

"Okay…I'm good." She replied wiping away her tears, "So…what now?" That was a good question…we were all just sitting here now after another adventure.

"Well…now that we have four people we could try Final Fantasy again?" Gareth suggested holding a controller.

"I-I have a book." Lily said holding up a copy of Alice and Wonderland. I looked at Alice and she shrugged her shoulders.

"At this point I'm up for anything." She replied and we laughed.

"Same." I replied; whatever we did we were going to do as a group and that's all that mattered right now…we were all together and that's all I cared about.

I woke up the next morning and quickly got dressed; it was Saturday and I was going to spend the whole day with the gang; I looked on the couch to see Lily sleeping there peacefully; guess she was still tired from yesterday. Heading back to my room I looked down the hallway…and at my sisters door; I opened it up to see an empty room, everything that had been in here yesterday was now gone…as if it had never been there.

"Oh Soren." I turned around to see my mother standing there, "Is your sister asleep?"

"…Mom…thank you." I pulled her into a hug and she returned confused for a minute, "…I'm so sorry…I've caused you so much grief." I felt myself begin to cry.

"Is everything okay honey?" I pulled away wiping the tears from my eyes.

"Mom…I want to see their graves…Jennifer's and Dad's." She gave a surprised gasp and gave a nod; we quietly walked out of the house leaving Lily to sleep and got into the car; the drive was a silent one as we drove to the cemetery, "…I want to thank you for letting Lily stay here…she has nowhere else to go."

"I'm happy to Soren…ever since you met Alice and Gareth you've gotten happier and that's made me glad, every friend you've made is clearly important to you, that includes Lily."

"…Thank you." When we stopped I looked to see we had parked just outside the cemetery; we both got out of the car and walked amongst the field of graves until we stopped in front of two marked grave stones; Jennifer Thain and Robert Thain. We stood there for a minute and I just stared at the graves of my sister and father…my sister and my father…m-my s-sister and m-my f-father…w-w-who I k-k-k-killed. I collapsed into the grass as I cried with everything I had; every piece of loving emotional distress seemed to pour out of me…as if to make up for the heartless act of mercilessness I had shown them in their final moments; it felt like hours passed before I could cry no more and when it was over…I felt better, I felt like every piece of hurt and pain I had held for so long fade from me. I stood up finding it easier than ever before and turned to my mother giving her another hug before we walked away from the graves…and all the pain I had ever felt since their deaths…it was time to move on.

 **When all is said and done we have to continue to move on because we are alive. For all those we've lost it's important that we continue to live, that we continue to share ourselves with the world...and a little bit of them. No matter what we can not waste our lives...after all...we only get one.**


	22. Voicemail Sucks

**A little side story of our travelers after their adventure.**

"Hey you reached the voicemail of Soren Thain. I'm not picking up for a number of reasons but if you leave a message I'll be sure to get back to you…or leave a text because voicemails aren't used these days so…your choice. 'BEEP'"

"Hey Soren it's…2:30 and Gareth and Lily are here before you so…if you're not here soon I'm going to destroy you!"

"Smooth." Gareth said snickering, "I mean just the best way to say it ever."

"Shut it Gareth! It's my message."

"And you sound like you want him dead." Lily added surfing through my box of books, "Maybe you should just be honest?"

"Yeah I'll just tell him that I was worried that he hasn't shown up yet and that I even get worried when he leaves late at night and want him to stay here so he doesn't get hurt." 'BEEP' "What was that?"

"Message sent." Oh no, looking at my phone I saw the call end and the message fly off towards Soren's phone.

"No, this is not happening!" I yelled at my phone, "I refuse to let my life turn into a bad romantic comedy where I'm pulled into one awkward situation after another! I will get that message off his phone."

"Isn't that what would happen in a bad romantic comedy?" Lily said and I shot her a glare making her slink back to her chair.

"So is there a hair brained scheme to be had now?" Gareth asked a little too excited.

"Not hair brained…we just need to destroy his phone…nothing hair brained."

"Oh this is going to be fun! So how do you plan to do this?" Is Gareth mocking me?

"You sound too excited about this…what are you up to?"

"What? Nothing…I just want to help my friend in her time of need. Is something so wrong with that?"

"Then why are you grinning from ear to ear!?" He was on the verge of laughing out of his chair; he was enjoying this too much.

"Never mind that, also how are we going to find Soren if we don't know where he is."

"That is a problem. His schedule doesn't give any idea of where he might be." Lily pulled out a small folder and handed me a piece of paper labeled 'Soren's daily schedule (Mon.-Fri.)'

"Wow you have it down to the minute." I said impressed by her dedication at which she blushed.

"I-It's my pension for detail. I even have Gareth and your schedules." She handed me two more papers with labels for Gareth and my schedule; wow she really had a detail that couldn't be matched…I didn't even know I stared off into space for a full two minutes each day.

"Whatever, Gareth I want you to check…his house and the park while Lily checks the library and…his school." I said looking at the schedule; he really didn't do much besides going to school then heading to the park for a bit followed by the library and then here for the rest of the day, his time here was almost double anywhere else he went. He went to school from 8-12 since he had his credits to pass high school, then 12:30-1:00 at the park followed by 1:15-2:30 at the library doing research and then finishing 3:00-10:00 here. He spent more time here than collectively anywhere else in the day; so the only thing I can assume is that he either fell asleep in the park or is still doing research at the library…but that still means he should be ANSWERING HIS PHONE!

"We'll get moving." Gareth said as he and Lily got up and headed out my door leaving me in my room…at least Lily left our schedules with me…Gareth spends more time at the library then I expected.

 **Gareth**

I gave a knock on the door and waited for someone to answer; as I stood there I looked out to see younger kids playing in the middle of the street, suddenly the door opened to reveal Soren's mother giving me a gentle smile.

"Hello Gareth. What are you doing here?"

"Hello Ms. Thain, I was looking for Soren actually. Is he here?"

"I'm sorry but I haven't seen him since this morning when I dropped him off at the bus station." So he hasn't been home yet.

"Well thank you ma'am. Do you know where he might be?"

"…He hasn't been there in a while but you could check the Seven-Eleven up the street. He used to go there regularly for a slurpee. Oh, before you go would you like something to eat for the road?"

"Yes please, thank you ma'am."

"Wonderful. I'll get started making something for you."

"Thank you…can I borrow your phone for a moment?" She nodded and I walked inside heading for the land line phone she had hooked up; guess I should let Alice know he wasn't at his house, I dialed up Alice's number and waited for her to pick up.

"Hello? Soren?"

"Nope guess again."

"Gareth. Did you find him?"

"No he wasn't at his house. His mom said he might be at the Seven-Eleven nearby so I was going to check their next."

"Alright then…by the way, why didn't you call me on your phone?"

"I didn't charge it."

"Are you serious? I got you that phone so we could all stay in touch when we needed to! You're on my plan you know!"

"You know I have a problem remembering things. Also Soren's kind of breaking that whole 'staying in touch' thing because we can't reach him."

"Don't worry I'm going to hit him hard enough that he never forgets to pick up again!"

"Yeah because that's how you show someone you care."

"JUST FIND SOREN BEFORE HE HEARS THAT MESSAGE!" My ears are ringing now; I heard a click and a long dial tone; looks like she hung up, putting the phone back down I walked into the kitchen as the ringing began to dissipate in my ears.

"Geez Alice can get angry."

"Hehehe. Soren says the same thing about her. Here, also give this to Soren when you see him." She handed me a bag with a sandwich inside and a phone…Soren's phone, "He left it here before he went to schools."

"…Do you happen to know his passcode?"

"Well…his password is very…complicated." It can't be that complicated.

"Thank you ma'am. I'll make sure Soren gets his phone." With that I gave a wave and headed out the door.

"Thank you Gareth. Have a good day."

"See you Ms. T." With that I dashed off heading for the nearby Seven-Eleven where hopefully Soren was…and I might pick up a slurpee while there; I looked down at Soren's phone and turned it on to see it had a pattern combination lock…maybe this will be harder than I thought.

 **Lily**

As I neared the park I saw it was full of people; more than normal for a weekday, I looked around to see a sign for a music festival nearby, so I guess a lot of people were going to show up…quickly covering my face with my hoodie I shuffled to where Soren usually sat. When I approached it I didn't find him but I did find a book on the ground; I picked it up to see it was a copy of Ready Player One slightly worn; I remember I had given this to Soren because I thought it would be right up his ally…judging by how far in the book he was I was right…good. Pulling out my phone I moved to my contacts and dialed Alice; it gave a few rings before Alice picked up.

"Did you find him Soren…or more importantly his phone?" Alice asked.

"Sorry no…all I found was a book I gave him so he was here…but not anymore."

"So he WAS there. That means he's either nearby or at another location…check in with Gareth at the Seven-Eleven."

"Okay…which one."

"I'll text you the address. Just head towards Soren's house and you should get the address before you reach it."

"Okay."

"Damnit Soren where are you?"

"Alice…you forgot to press end call." I heard slightly upset stuttering and then the call ended…Alice was very interesting when she was flustered. Once I got the Seven-Eleven address I entered it into my GPS and rushed to the location; when I approached it I saw Gareth walking up to it as well, "Gareth." I called to him and he turned to me giving a wave as I walked over to him.

"Hey Lily. Alice send you here?"

"Yeah. Have you found Soren?"

"No…but I did find his phone." Gareth replied pulling out Soren's black phone.

"Oh! That's what we needed! Let's erase the voicemail."

"Yeah…I kind of have a small problem with that."

"You don't know his password?"

"Exactly. Can't get into his phone without the password." He handed me the phone and I looked to see it was a pattern lock, "Any clues, you live with him."

"Well…he moves too quickly for me to see what it is…did you let Alice know you found it?"

"I was going to…but I forgot to." I gave a giggle at his forgetfulness and pulled out my phone texting Alice; 'We have Soren's phone.' I pushed send and almost five second later my phone chimed; 'BRING IT BACK NOW!' Gareth chucked looking over my shoulder, "She's completely lost it."

"She kind of has." I agreed giggling.

"Who lost what?" We both jumped slightly looking over to see Soren standing there with four slurpees in his arms.

"Soren!" Gareth said overexcited.

"Gareth!...What are we doing?" Soren asked confused, "What are you two doing here anyway?"

"We…thought…you…" Gareth stuttered unsure of what to say.

"We thought we would try a slurpee since you told us about them." I said quickly and Soren chuckled.

"Great minds think alike huh?" He replied handing me a slurpee, "Kiwi Strawberry for Lily, Hawaiian Punch for Gareth, Lemonade for Alice and Mountain Dew for me!" I took a sip and actually enjoyed the flavor; I looked over to see Gareth sucking his down with a smile, "Alright let's go. Bfore we head to the hospital I have to stop by my house and grab my phone real quick." !

"Wait!" I said stopping him, "If you do that…the…slurpee will melt." He gave a deep thought.

"You're right. Eh…I guess I'll just go without it for now." He said and Gareth and I gave a sigh of relief; that was too close. We all walked to the hospital and as Gareth and Soren talked I stood behind them swiping across Soren's phone trying to figure out his password; I've tried every possible combination I could think of but none of them worked…how complicated did he make it!?

"And apparently that's not the only secret still left in Mortal Kombat."

"That's way too complicated for some fatality screens."

"Maybe but to think they put that much work into a game makes me respect the people who made it…Lily what do you think?"

"WHAT!?" I said in a panic putting the phone behind my back.

"What do you think about somebody making something and going over the top to make it look awesome and full of interesting secrets?"

"W-Well I put a lot of work into my journals and make sure every detail is exactly how I want it…and if I can include more detail then I will."

"See Gareth? You have to give it your all!"

"I just think it's too much work for an arcade machine is all."

"Oh right…Soren I found this." I said pulling out his book.

"My book! Thanks Lily I thought I lost it…but I read it in the park last…when did you-"

"Hey Soren!" Gareth quickly said grabbing his attention, "Have I told you about my new plan for our fight against the lich?"

"Gareth for the last time; you can't just have us cast haste as you pound against the lich. We need light spells to defeat him." Whew…that was close.

 **Alice**

…Where were they? They should have been back by now with Soren's phone, if we're quick enough we can get it off his phone before he shows up; the door opened and I felt relief as Gareth and Lily entered…then a feeling of fear and worry came over as Soren came in behind them.

"Hey Alice. I got you a slurpee!" He said holding out a cup of crushed flavored ice at me.

"What took you so long!? I was…wondering where you were." I said quickly recollecting myself as he handed me the slurpee, "…Thanks for the drink." I replied quietly.

"No problem, I remember you said you said you would like to try one so I got you one." He was late because he was thinking of me…and now he had an embarrassing message from me ON HIS PHONE!

"IDIOT!" I clocked him on the head with a pillow and he fell back in his chair.

"Oww…" He said standing up, "What did I do this time?"

"…Sorry it's just…" I gave a heavy sigh, "Would you mind grabbing me some saltine packets…I'm feeling slightly puckish."

"Sure…I'll be right back." He walked out and I turned to Gareth and Lily who were quietly laughing.

"Smooth Alice." Gareth said sarcastically.

"Shut it. Lily do you have his phone?" Lily pulled out his black phone and tossed it to me.

"We couldn't open it because we didn't know the password." Lily said.

"That's okay; he has a very complicated password." I said quickly swiping along his phone until it opened to his home screen.

"You know his password!?" Gareth asked surprised.

"I've watched him open his phone dozens of times when he wants to show me something and he always sits directly next to me so I can see his phone easily."…Why are my cheeks heating up?

"He always leaves last as well." Lily added making my cheeks flare up.

"Not a word Gareth. NOT. A. WORD." I quickly opened up his voicemail and looked to see only my voicemail was there; pressing it I heard the message I left from earlier.

"'BEEP' Hey Soren it's…2:30 and Gareth and Lily are here before you so…if you're not here soon I'm going to destroy you!"

"Smooth. I mean just the best way to say it ever."

"Shut it Gareth! It's my message."

"And you sound like you want him dead. Maybe you should just be honest?"

"Yeah I'll just tell him that I was worried that he hasn't shown up yet and that I even get worried when he leaves late at night and want him to stay here so he doesn't get hurt. 'Click'" With that the message ended.

"God it sounds even worse this way."

"And that's why it's funny." Gareth added chuckling, "You guys are just too much fun."

"Glade you think so." I turned to see Soren at the doorway holding a few saltines in his hand and I felt my face heat up impossibly high.

"Your face looks like a tomato Alice." Lily said and I rubbed my cheeks hoping to cool it but with no luck and Soren's chuckling wasn't helping.

"I figured something was up when Gareth and Lily showed up at Seven-Eleven. Didn't know it was all over a message from Alice." Handing the saltines to me he grabbed his phone and swiped along it.

"You seem unusually calm about this." Gareth said surprised…oh no, nonononono!

"Well this isn't the first time." Soren replied; damn it. He swiped along his phone moving to an archive of voice mails and clicked on the first one.

"'BEEP' Hey Soren. It's just Alice and I was just practicing calling your number…that doesn't work…I'd better not send this. 'CLICK'" That was a few days after we started hanging out after our adventure in Hyrule.

"'BEEP' Hey Soren make sure to bring over your N64 tomorrow so we can try out those games you brought over…with the…N64…how do I delete this message? 'CLICK'"

"'BEEP' Soren I woke up this morning and I had your jacket…did something happen last night with us?...! That's not what I mean I was just wondering…if something…well this voicemail is going to be trashed now. 'CLICK'" Soren chuckled listening to everyone as I turned redder and redder with every one he played.

"You really need to learn how to get rid of a voicemail before it gets sent." Soren said and I started hitting him.

"Y-Y-You colossal jerk! Why do you have every voicemail I ever sent you!? Do you enjoy making me look stupid!? Idiot!"

"No! Why would I enjoy that?" He replied and I stopped hitting him.

"T-Then why do you have all those voicemails?"

"Honestly…I enjoy listening to them." He replied.

"W-What?" I said slightly stunned by his reply.

"These voicemails show me a whole new side to you and it's really interesting to hear. It's like getting to see another part of you." As he said that I felt my face heat up…idiot.

"Well that's nice." Lily added and Gareth just shrugged.

"I-I will admit it's sweet…but I can't allow those voicemails to exist." Grabbing his phone I hurled it out the open window surprising everyone as they looked at me, "…What?"

"Jokes on you. My otter box can survive a five story drop." Soren said rushing outside.

"…Damn it." I said crossing my arms and sitting back as Gareth howled with laughter.

"Just too much fun." Gareth said and Lily began to giggle.

"You to Lily?" I said surprised at her sudden amusement at my current situation.

"Sorry…it is kind of funny." She said giggling as Gareth laughed; GLAD TO SEE THEY WERE ENJOYING THE SITUATION!...Soren holds onto every voicemail I sent him…I'm REALLY glad a majority of them were deleted before they were sent…that list would be a lot longer if I hadn't.


	23. Lily

I always felt that my opinion…my voice wasn't needed, being nose deep into books was where I belonged, getting every piece of info I could so that people could use it when needed; especially new info. That's why I write everything down, my book will speak louder than my voice and I don't mind that…really, as long as I can help others with my knowledge that's all that matters; that's why I didn't mind when my voice disappeared from my ears.

My name is Lily Tesit, youngest daughter of Lissa and Kevin Tesit…and sister to Lest Tesit; ever since I was five I have always loved books, nothing else could compare to the rich detail in each page, whether it was non-fiction or fiction didn't matter, every book held its own little world of words that described everything it wanted to convey. I wanted to be able to write like that, to be able to convey every piece of information into the pages of a book and amaze people like those books did for me; that's why my mother gave me my first journal, my own way to practice my writing skills and convey all my feeling into pages. My mother had always been there for me, she was even the first person to introduce me to books; when I was three she read me Alice in Wonderland a book about a young girl plunging down a rabbit hole and being taken too an upside down world. With every word she read I was enamored and mystified by the world she described; when I was finally able to read I poured everything I had into reading that book over and over again, I wanted every word to be memorized and make me able to recite it from memory. Eventually I was able to do it, the entire book was inside my mind and I could tell it from memory…and I did; to my mother and father and brother, they were all impressed by how I was able to recite it completely…even the author's note. A few days later I was tested for an identic memory by my brother; I didn't have one though, when he asked how I was able to recite the whole book I looked at him and said, "I read that book over and over again." When I said that he laughed; he said that I was a strange sister to read the same book over and over again…but I was his strange sister. My brother was always like that, he wasn't the best when it came to studying or school work and that worried my mother and father to know end; when they asked him what was the matter he gave them a confident look and said, "Nothing's the matter. I just know what's really important to me. Those I care about." When he said that my mom and dad laughed…but out of amazement rather than ignorance…after all it's not something an eight year old usually says. They respected his choice though and so did I, he was the coolest brother ever; he never cared what other kids thought when we walked to school together and held hands, he cared about me too much to let it affect him. My mother and father were always supportive of us and it showed with how they shared who they were in the past; mother would always tell us about her past when she worked on amateur art that only dad liked and father would tell us why he liked her art. To him, when she painted she let her soul out on the canvas and gave everything she had on it; she could have painted a completely white sheet and as long as she put her soul into it he would have declared it a work of art. That was why they supported Lests' choice, he conveyed his soul when he told them what he found truly important; his voice rang with the feeling of his soul. To have your soul ring through your voice…it was something he was famous for; whenever he got serious he spoke with a confidence that shook those who stood against him…meanwhile my voice was just unintelligible noise. For me the world was intimidating and filled with souls and voices much more powerful than my own; even with the support of my family I found myself avoiding those around me, avoiding classmates, avoiding confrontation…avoiding making friends. I had my family though and that's all that mattered; they were all I needed…unfortunately that wouldn't last forever.

I was fourteen, just beginning ninth grade, my brother was seventeen so he was almost done which meant I would be without him for a few years worrying me; but as I sat in class quietly writing into my journal an announcement came over the P.A. system, "Would Lily and Lest Tesit please come to the office immediately." As the class was confused by the office calling me I wondered why my brother was called as well; he was a good person and never got in trouble…that went for me as well but that made me more confused and worried. When we came to the office our father was there with a sullen look in his eyes; he said nothing and just led us to the car, we drove to the hospital and my heart began to race with worry. We entered one of the rooms and I felt my eyes begin to well up with tears as my brother gave a surprised gasp…sitting in the bed…was our mother; she was hooked up to all kinds of machines and her breath was shaky and unstable. Apparently she had been hit by a car on her evening walk with our father; as the car bolted at them my mother pushed father out of the way and was hit by the vehicle at full force; She had saved dad…at the cost of herself. In that moment all I could think was that this was some dream, that I would wake up and all of this would be some bad nightmare…but it wasn't and when her heartbeat stopped two weeks later I felt my soul crack and my voice became quieter.

The funeral was held and as they laid mother into the earth all I could hear was my father softly sobbing and my brother holding back his tears with all his might; I stayed quiet through it all, unable to register what had happen fully. Mom was gone, dad was broken, my brother became less confident and I was unable to know what to do now; for the longest time my family had been my strength, they protected me and know it felt like that protection had an exposed opening…I just didn't think he would use that opening to hurt me. Dad became scarcer during the night and in the morning he was violent and drunk; with mom gone he felt weak and unable to cope with the world…so he drank, he became violent when he drank and took his frustration on us; over the course of a few days my protection became weaker for the piece who had defended was now attacking. Brother never stopped though; with father now against us he worked to keep me protected from those that wanted to break me apart completely, he was the only shield left I had…and I clung to him. After two years nothing had changed; my brother had graduated and was now working to support me but our father continued to drink and become more violent as time passed and my voice continued to fade little by little from my ears. It first happened when mom passed; as I talked my voice was less vocal bit by bit, I asked Lest but he said my voice sounded the same…but the force and confident behind it was less than before. It became worse when dad became distraught and wallowed in despair turning my quiet voice to a whisper…but I could still hear it. What truly worried me was the fact that I began to forget my mother's face, her voice, just…her; I wrote down every detail I could remember and had Lest help me with some of the hazy parts until I had a page of my mother. As I read what I wrote I felt my heart beat with joy; my mother was here, everything about her was on this page…because I put my soul into it; at that moment I knew what I wanted to do with my writing skill, I wanted to document everything. This world is filled with wondrous people and things, I want to describe everything I can on pages…so those wonders are never forgotten…that will be my confidence. In that moment when I told my brother what I wanted to do I could hear my voice clearer than ever before and I could tell he could hear it to.

…A year passed, I was seventeen and my confidence soared with everything cataloged into my journal; I was doing what I was meant to do and I could feel it…but something still felt off about the whole thing…I ignored it though because I felt happy…until that day. Lest finished up with work and walked me home from school…to our surprise father was home, he was sulking in the chair and as we crossed the doorway he stood up and looked at us with a sad look in his eyes…and then it turned to anger.

"Lissa…I can't do it…I can't see your face anymore…it hurts…STOP IT!" I cringed as Lest stepped in front of me, "YOU KIDS…YOU LOOK JUST LIKE HER…STOP IT…STOP IT…STOPITSTOPITSTOPITSTOPITSTOPITSTOPIT!" He began swinging wildly and Lest did his best to stop father from his rampage ending up getting hit with a beer bottle and falling to the ground; I felt my heart race and my breath shorten as all this happened…I wasn't able to do anything as they fought. Father looked at me and his eyes widened, "STOP IT…GO AWAY LISSA!" Grabbing a kitchen knife he rushed at me and I froze…the world began to fall apart around me as he rushed…then Lest jumped in front taking the knife into his chest.

"You're safe…I'm…glad…I could…protect you…Lily." With those words he went limp in my arms and I felt my soul shatter to pieces.

"…" I shouted his name…but I couldn't hear it, my soul was shattered…and without it…I had no voice worth hearing. I was ready to die then…and as father thrusted again the world went white; as I wavered in the void the world reformed and when I looked around I could see a curious cat watching me, a man with a tattered top hat and rabbit at a tea table and a girl with blond hair and a white and blue dress looking at me with surprise. I sat there for a minute and realizing I was still alive…I cried; I cried my eyes out, I was alone…and all because I wasn't strong enough…I failed to hold onto those I cared about and now they were dead…because of me.

"It seems you've lost something important." I looked up to see a man looking at me, "Do you want it back?" Do I want my brother back? Yes, more than anything.

"…" With that he outstretched his hand to me.

"Then join me…and as long as you follow me you shall see that which you lost return to you." Brother…I'll bring you back…even if it costs me my life!

When I started out I watched as traveler after traveler joined up and became a part of his army; for the first few weeks I worked on perfecting my skill with a weapon and as I realized that when I go back I would face my own death at the hands of my father I took the weapon synonymous with the angel of death that would follow me home…the scythe. Once I had my skills developed I was given a few starting missions alongside the boss; it was simple as travelers who came to these worlds were weak willed and had no soul with which to hold onto…just like me…but I became stronger with each traveler converted. I had to become stronger if I wanted to bring Lest back; the boss even saw my strength and sent me on solo missions which I completed flawlessly; when I joined I left the weak girl Lily to become strong…I couldn't stay how I was and save my brother…so I took my mother's name and became colder as I continued on as a part of the bosses army. The numbers grew, my strength and skill increased, I even got use to not hearing my voice; all I did was imagine what it sounds like and I came closer and closer to my dream…then it all fell apart.

"Soren…" In Hyrule we had turned the world into a place not even the hero would touch and it was doing hell to the two travelers who had been taken there…but they refused to fall and continued to fight. It started with the fight with the three headed beast; we had broken Asuna to her weakness and the boy was incapacitated, everything was going according to plan…and then he protected her. Soren had risen from his fall and protected Asuna from harm; it shocked Asuna, the boss and me…it also felt familiar…just like Lest. The second encounter had revealed Asuna's dedication to Soren as they had stopped…the succubus from taking the hidden village out; when the boss gave me the power of the succubus I thought he recognized my strength…but he exploited my weakness. The succubus had my body as hers now…and I was slowly fading away bit by bit…my dream would never come true now…I'm sorry Lest.

…! Soren and…Alice had survived and saved this world…and I was back in control of my body; every encounter with Soren and Alice made the succubus's dedication and resolve crack until she couldn't take it…just like Lest would. I felt it ever since Soren protected Alice…he was very familiar…because he acted like Lest; he protected those he cared about with everything he had and even a little more after that…was he...no. Ever since they won the boss became much more focused and the succubus was more vocal…but less in control, I wouldn't let her have my body until I was done; but…no matter how close I felt I was getting something felt…wrong…but why?

"So they're back." The Mushroom Kingdom was where our next target was and apparently Soren and Alice had been pulled back in…could I do this? Every traveler before him had never made me feel hesitant about my choice but…every time I look at Soren…all I see is Lest. I couldn't fight at my best against Soren…I would falter and fail…but why? Why does seeing Lest make me regret my choice…why does it eat away at who I am and why does it make Lily come out? I had locked away my emotion to make my dream come true but every time I saw him I could feel my emotions creep back in from the dark where they were locked…not now…not yet. With Damien helping out we went against Soren and the traveler we were after Glitch, I pulled out daggers instead of my scythe feeling something stir for a moment clouding my judgment and attacked…if I didn't do this I would never bring Lest back…I had to take Soren down! I managed to take him down and pin him; he was at my mercy and…and I…and I cried, it felt like I was looking at my brother and…I couldn't do it…I just couldn't. After the boss showed up we were pulled back to our home base I felt…unsure of myself; I fought to bring my brother back but when I looked at Soren my will began to falter. Even looking at the clips of his fights made me feel like my determination was weaker than before…but why, what was it about Soren that made me feel so unsure…and why did Sukia feel the same way when she looked at Alice? They weren't ordinary traveler…even the boss could feel that, he put more time into studying them than any other traveler; it made sense though, they were the first travelers to come back after saving a world. It was strange though; reading their reports didn't shed anything new about them that we didn't already know…and Soren's file was splintered and incomplete with pieces taken out by the boss; I don't know why he would hide the info from us though…and what made me so unstable…every time I look at them I slip back. I turn back into the girl who can't even protect the ones she loves; I'm not Lily…I'm Lissa, the girl who sacrifices everything to fix her mistakes.

We failed again; even worse was the state the boss returned in…and the state I was in; Sukia no longer spoke to me, I was no longer able to use the abilities of a succubus and my strength and skill were even worse than before. No matter how hard I trained I couldn't seem to control the same amount of speed and power I had gained from my time before; it felt like I was capped out…but the cap was weaker than I ever was. It was like every time I thought about Soren it reminded me of Lest and then I slipped back; to think I can be reminded of my brother by looking at someone else…it was the same with Sukia looking at Alice, she was reminded of Nina. It was weird to think we could be reminded of someone when looking at a completely different person…but what made me think of Lest so much…thay don't look the same and their attitudes are different…so what is it?

"Y-you won't st-sto-stop me! A-As long as I c-can sti-still fight I w-will never let you hurt those I care about!" ! T-Those words…( I just know what's really important to me. Those I care about.) That's it…his ideals, his confidence, his never wavering soul…it's just like Lest…my brothers ideals…I can't let this happen, I want to protect my brothers ideals! For the first time in a long time I felt confident in the choice I made; I summoned everything I had and launched my succubus tail into the boss, there was no turning back now.

Now I traveled with Soren, Alice and Gareth as they worked to save the world…and it wasn't the most pleasant; now that I had given up on bringing my brother back I had reverted back to my shy and unconfident self and Alice and Gareth were still skeptical of me. Gareth seemed more trusting after a while but Alice seemed to be completely distrustful of me, our first talk as comrades was short and very one sided with her telling me her opinions about me then walking away…I didn't mind though, I only wanted to protect them…it's what my brother would do after all…but even with a new confidence and goal my voice did not ring to my ears.

I stood there in the castle of trials looking at the screens as everyone fought against each other; it was like looking at my brother and father fight again…no…I felt my body begin to stiffen as I watched those I cared about fight…but I can't just give up. These people protected me, they treated me like someone they cared about…after everything I've done to them I have to help them…no…I WANT to help them! Maybe they weren't the nicest when we first met…but they accepted me and cared about me regardless, they could have let me die but they protected me…and now I will protect them…not because my brother would…but because I would. As I explained the plan to my teammates I could hear my voice for the first time since I started traveling.

I told my story to them…and they still accepted me, even more they said we would protect each other; it was no longer just others protecting me but all of us protecting each other…with their help I felt my soul begin to mend…I felt stronger than before...and it was all thanks to them. We continued traveling and eventually we had activated all four of the crystals…but not without loss; the warriors had given their life to save the world and now…we stood unsure of what to do. We weren't being taken home…we were stuck here… what was left for us to do? There wasn't much time to think though; as we lamented over our failure the world became overrun with the creatures; they began to destroy the entire land as we traveled from area to area gathering everyone we could, we were able to save four people…but we had failed the world. It was now consumed by the fiends and we were stuck in the air with nowhere to land; was there anything left we could do? …hm? Who's that?

I stood against the Gemini Twins ready to fight; I had to keep them here so the others could take out the cause of all this; they trusted me and the sage to take care of the Kraken so that's exactly what I was going to do!

"Why did you betray the boss? He would have given you what you wanted." There's something more important than what I want.

"…But not what I needed." They mean the world to me, "I wanted my brother back but it wouldn't have helped me…" They live in the here and now, "When I met Soren and Alice my world began to change and I went from scared and desperate to strong and with something to protect now!" They accept me, my mistakes and all, "Maybe I'm still meek and scared but I'll give everything I have to protect those I care about!" I will fight to protect what matters, I will not cower when they are in trouble…because they would do the same…we care about each other to much to just lie down!

"…Foolish girl…you can never protect what matters…no matter how hard you try." Maybe not before…but now I will try regardless of the circumstance!

As the person who sent us to these worlds answered our questions I thought to myself; Soren said he would save me from dying but…there's no way I can be saved, they all spent months in the world after I was taken…I'm already dead…there's no way to save me. What…what's this feeling? It feels like…regret…sadness…and fear; I don't want to die…but I don't have a choice…no matter how much I fear it…I have to accept it. At least I was able to meet them…and know them…that's good enough; with that realization I faded away as Soren, Alice and Gareth smiled at me for the last time…I'm sorry guys.

When my vision returned I was back in my house, clutching my brothers body as my father thrusted to me; I closed my eyes ready to die…? I was still alive, but I should be-'CRASH!' Opening my eyes I was shocked to see Soren standing there panting as my dad was face down into the nearby, now broken, table…he was here!?

"You okay?" He asked outstretching his hand to me; I nodded and looked as my dad got back up. Before I could say anything I watched as Gareth burst through the door way and jumped onto father pinning him to the ground.

"Soren! Get her out!" He yelled as my dad struggled; Soren grabbed my hand and lifted me up as I let go of my brothers body, he set me outside where Alice was standing talking into a nearby pay phone.

"Alice, have you gotten through?" Soren asked and she nodded hanging up.

"They'll be here in a few minutes." She responded.

"I'll go help Gareth! You keep Lily safe."

"Got it…be careful Soren." He returned a nod and dashed into the building where sounds of breaking furniture and glass followed.

"H-How…how are you guys here?" I asked and she put her hand on my shoulder.

"Soren asked her to send us to this point, he said he would save you…and that's exactly what we're doing." Suddenly sounds of sirens filled the air and I watched as police cars pulled up near the house; suddenly Gareth and my father crashed through the window as Soren rushed out to help. Once my father was arrested the police got a full report from us and drove off leaving us to stand outside the destroyed house…I was actually alive…they saved me…as we sat there I cried in happiness…they were actually able to save me.

The next few months weren't easy but I was able to give my brother a proper burial next to our mother…thank you brother…for everything, I lived on my own in the destroyed house slowly working through the food we had until finally the day had come. I rushed out of the house grabbing my favorite book and journal knowing I wouldn't be coming back and rushed as fast as I could run to the hospital; entering the nearby elevator I looked at the note I had gotten from Soren and felt my heart begin to flutter. Once the elevator stopped I rushed out and found a door marked with a name tag, 'Alice Blair.' Reaching for the handle I felt my face curl into a smile and opened the door to see my friends all waiting for me with big smiles; smiles that told me I was important, that my opinion mattered…and that my voice was worth hearing.

 **This is where the book ends...but not the story. There is still more to come in the future but for now we will take a small break for a month or two so please stick around and hold out until the next book. This has been Interestofthemind; thank you for reading my stories.**


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